If you read other finance blogs you may have noticed that Trent at The Simple Dollar is on a diet and that NCN at No Credit Needed is on a diet. Why would people interested in personal finance also be interested in diets? Because its part of a lifestyle perspective. I’ve lost 24 pounds since December last year. I’ve been on a self-inflicted diet (its not associated with a book or a plan) and its been a slow process, but its part of what makes each day exciting, I get to wake up in the morning and see if my frugal lifestyle has been beneficial in the bank and if my frugal eating has been beneficial in the bathroom (on the scale). Its a lifestyle of self control and long term thinking. Each of the financial authors that I read tends to have some sort of practical thrust that lays out the benefits of self control in spending, but that spills over to self discipline in reading (whether its in Trent’s book reviews, NCN’s or my faith, or your reading blogs), self discipline in food and self discipline in simply observing things around you to notice where others are racing headlong into instant gratification verses long term preparedness.

Self control is not something that marketers want you to have. They’d love for you to impulsively buy things, impulsively drink things, and then make a long term habit of those impulses. My dad, who has been many things professionally in his adult career, has an MBA and has spent a lot of time in the past working on marketing materials. He also spent a lot of time with me explaining marketing in the past so that I could identify the stupid from the creative from the important. There is value in the self disciplined individual standing in the middle of the stream of compulsive, impulsive or repulsive habits, products and people and identifying that you’re not headed that way. It feels good, its probably healthier, and it makes you an anchor for friends, family and a landmark in the shifting scenery.

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, July 11th, 2007 at 3:23 pm and is filed under Foundations, Tips'n'Tricks. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.