See the Value

One of the ways to gain control of your spending is to select where you place value. To find value in the plentiful rather than in the scarce. Spending is often a team sport, and changing your habits can be incredibly difficult. 

Like trying to become more vegetarian in a South African meat-eating culture. It is painless to change habits if the tweak feels better. If it is simple to make vegetarian food, and you enjoy how it tastes, it will be a smoother transition to eating less meat. If you feel like you are punishing yourself and being a martyr because everyone else is eating what you want, and you don’t like what is on your plate, it is going to be incredibly difficult. We get a quota of self-discipline, and if you use it all up in one area, it can explode in another. “Everything in moderation, including moderation”. 

Build changes to behaviour realistically, gradually, and sustainably. Planning is not about epiphanies. Break-through-weekends are followed by Monday alarm clocks and deep soaked patterns. To make real change, see the value in things that you did not before. Tweak your drivers and incentives. Deep, slow, conscious re-programming. The self-imposed limits stop feeling like chains because you experience the world differently. 

“Save more later” is an approach where the goal is not to adjust your spending up if your income goes up, or you get an unexpected boost. Where you snap the sense that life is better if you spend more, and spoil yourself because “you are worth it”. Reward yourself with the abundant. Put your money to work.

Changing Habits