We Need to Wake Up Every Morning Like My Son

Paradigms 1 Minute

My son is a startling model of consistency.

I was recently reminded of this when “the boys” (my son & I) decided to go out of town for four days without Mom. It was the first time being away that long, but also the first time I got to spend time exclusively with my son for so many days.

It didn’t seem to matter to him that we were anywhere else but home—he was still waking up every single morning bright and early, at 6:00 AM. The concept of “taking the day off” or “sleeping in” is simply foreign to him.

I instantly thought to myself—if we could only treat our money with the same kind of consistency, we would have a lot less spending problems and debt in this world.

Think about it…

The last time you let yourself indulge on something, large or small, what was the reason? If you’re like us, it was probably because “it was the weekend,” or maybe “you were on vacation,” or perhaps “it’s Joe’s birthday.” The list is endless, but the concept is the same–

We see special events (and we can make almost any day special) as a reason to pause our good habits.

What would my 1-year old do with money?

  • If he spent it like he sleeps, he would be incredibly consistent. He might spend $7 today and $8 tomorrow (just like he wakes up at 6 or 6:30 every morning), but he wouldn’t blow a $50 just because it was a weekend.
  • He would put away his first dollar every morning toward college, instead of counting what was left at the end of the day, or looking at how much allowance he got.
  • He would insist that his financial life work around his needs, instead of conforming to the latest trends, events, inputs…

What’s your model?

Have you ever found an inspiring model of consistency? How do you keep yourself on the right path every day?

Photo by eperales

Published by Peter

Published

2 thoughts on “We Need to Wake Up Every Morning Like My Son”

  1. What an interesting comparison! And it’s true….if we can convince ourselves that something is special or will only happen “just this once”, we can justify nearly anything!

    I keep our family budget very detailed. If I check our progress once every week or two, we tend to stay within our budget. However, if I go 4 or 5 weeks without categorizing expenditures, I tend to assume that we are doing ok and am usually wrong when I go back to check the numbers! I have to make myself stay on top of it because once I see the numbers in “black and white”, I can’t justify extra shopping because of splurges!

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