Ubel: Precommitment! One reason we humans do not always behave rationally is that we have limited willpower. We know that exercise is good for us. We understand that junk food is bad. But we cannot follow through on our rational desires. We plan to run for 30 minutes, but after 10 we get off the treadmill and convince ourselves we are a bit stiff today. We try to cut down on empty calories and then grab a handful of M&Ms from a candy bowl, almost unaware of our action. No single M&M caused anyone to have diabetes. No one experienced a heart attack because he was 20 minutes short of his exercise goal. And yet our lives, our waistlines even, are the result of thousands of such decisions and behaviors.

To improve ourselves, we have to act as if each M&M matters, as if each decision has important consequences. To do this, it helps to make rules and follow them. Commit yourselves to no candy, no desserts, and you will become more mindful of M&M bowls. Run outside, rather than inside on a treadmill, and you will be forced to finish your running loop. Tell a friend you will walk with her for 30 minutes this afternoon, and you will be forced to show up. Do you want to save more money? Have some money automatically deposited into a savings account that you cannot access easily through ATMs, debit cards or checkbooks. Sometimes the best way to behave better when you are weak is to impose martial law on yourself when you feel strong.

Mind: Has your awareness of these innate flaws changed your daily routine?

Ubel: It has made me almost impossible to live with! Imagine spending time with someone who is obsessed with rationality, who constantly tries to find ways to “better himself.” My poor wife!

Mind: If you could give one piece of advice for avoiding a few of the mental mistakes outlined in your book, what would it be?

Ubel: None of us is perfect. We will all make a boatload of mistakes before our lives are done. So try to think about the areas in your life where you can least afford to make mistakes or where you must, simply must, remain steadfast in the face of temptation, and concentrate your energy and attention on these few areas. Is saving money your Achilles’ heel? Do not worry, then, that you might not always make great decisions on the tennis court. Is food your downfall? Try to minimize the food-related mistakes you make, and do not get bogged down trying to fix everything else in your life. Once you have mastered food (is that possible?), you can move on to the next challenge.

Note: This article was originally printed with the title, "Explaining Fiscal Foolishness".

1 Comments

1. 1. Carlton22 10:06 AM 4/6/09

   If you REALLY want to understand the Founding Father's intent for a truly Free Market Economy, what caused this mess, and how we can get out of it then I heartily recommend the book by Thomas E. Woods, Jr. entitled "Meltdown", available at BDalton and other booksellers.
   
   The "irrationality" comes in believing that those who got us into this mess can get us out of this mess or that further interference or continued interference in the Free Market will somehow prevent it from happening again. The further irrationality comes from the refusal to see the deliberate steps and stages to destroy America from within that were set in motion from the very founding of this nation and culminated in the Federal Reserve Bank (a private corporation owned and controlled by the international bankers whom they bailed out), the Internal Revenue Service (confiscation of personal wealth through tax extortion ... the power to tax is the power to destroy), the Social Security Administration (the penultimate Ponzi Scheme), the inflation and debauching of the currency causing the raising of the minimum wage to the point that it is no longer possible for one working individual to earn the multiples of the minimum wage it takes to earn a Middle Class income (thus destroying the Middle Class), the Transfers of Wealth via War, Foreign Aid, Entitlements and a host of other such schemes. And the Last Blow, the International Monetary Fund (or other such) with absolute control of all monetary systems of the world and even a ONE WORLD CURRENCY. All with the false benevolence of "saving the world's economy". And from whence, and why does all of this come? When we are disconnected from the Source of All Life (God) our energy supply is cut off and alternate sources of energy must be found to sustain a facsimily of life. Vampirisation in one form or another is the only alternative, stealing energy, raping energy, confiscating , taxing, transferring, estorting give it your own name.
   Jesus saved us by re-establishing the connection to the Source (God) via his Sacred Heart Flame until such time as we have fully re-established ourselves in our own connection via our own 3-Fold Unfed Flame in the Secret Chamber of the Heart chakra.
   We use energy in creating our wealth through the work of our hands. That energy is represented by a medium of exchange, a currency which we all agree is equivalent and with which we can then purchase goods and services. Those that debauch the currency dilute the lifeblood of the economy until it dies of suffocation.

   Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this