Comments on: Great Pieces of Advice – and Why We Fail at Them

By: TigerLily

TigerLily — Wed, 20 Apr 2011 03:39:13 +0000

Trent, you are an inspiration. Great article – thank you!

By: Dwight Anthony

Dwight Anthony — Mon, 18 Apr 2011 02:58:53 +0000

I’ve had read, aim, fire on my wishlist for some time now, but may just go with Masterson’s The Pledge. Sounds like a good read.

Dwight Anthony
Financially Elite Blog dot Com

By: dagny

dagny — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:23:57 +0000

Pollard’s Law: We do what we must, then what’s easy, then what’s fun.

My dad has a list of these advice snippets called his rule of life. Over time I came to realize that most of these had real value.

By: Earth MaMa Jo

Earth MaMa Jo — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 14:20:54 +0000

Good topic and I like what Steven had to share. Right now, my family lives in day to day misery – we aren’t enjoying anything. We’ve been in this rut for 4 years, and it just keeps getting deeper and deeper. It’s very depressing. It just seems like no matter what we do to keep our financial status in good standing, outside influences keep chipping away at it. We’ve cut back so much, and tightened the belt so far that we feel strangled. All we can do is hope that things get better. It’s hard to be surrounded by people who seem to have endless supplies of money (but they don’t – these folks aren’t planning for their futures at all) and be told how stupid we are – constantly.

By: 8sml

8sml — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 13:30:26 +0000

I heard an interesting NPR podcast recently that discussed this topic. Negative feelings now (getting off the couch to exercise, not smoking that cigarette) are apparently much more powerful than negative feelings later, so one useful tip is to add a negative that occurs *in the present* rather than in the future. In the podcast, a woman who had been having trouble quitting smoking decided that if she ever smoked a cigarette, she would immediately donate $5000 to the KKK. Since the thought of writing that cheque gave her powerful negative feelings, she never smoked again.

I tried this myself recently: I’d tried many times over the years to stop biting my nails, using many techniques, but never succeeded. This time, I said to myself, “Every time I bite my nails, I have to do 30 pushups.” I really didn’t want to do the pushups right away, so the technique has worked for me.

By: christine a

christine a — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 10:30:25 +0000

I love the idea that your future self is a significant other to be put first.

By: Mike

Mike — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:10:42 +0000

Actually the reason we give in is that self control or will power is actually not unlimited. When used too much it breaks/fails. You can only deny impulses to a point at which time we cave or give in. I am not sure if it can be strengthened like a muscle but I would think so as monks eventually develop incredible self control. So do not be to hard on oneself when you do buy that latte once in while as this decreases the strain on your will power.

By: Dwight Anthony

Dwight Anthony — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 03:25:03 +0000

I think it comes down to life’s little ‘impulse’ attractions and they usually come in the form of being rewarded earlier rather than later, but doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t be more attentive to our immediate needs.

Dwight Anthony
Financially Elite Blog dot Com

By: Nicole

Nicole — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 03:00:31 +0000

I agree when it comes to things that need to get done, either immediately or eventually. My personal motto seems to be “There’s no time like the last minute” (of course, if I can get something done almost as well at the last minute, I often don’t see the point of spending a lot of time getting it perfect — not always, but usually).

On the other hand, Steven is right. All work and no play DOES make Jack a dull boy. ;)

By: Jen

Jen — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 02:15:34 +0000

The answer also may be that people are not machines. a person is not designed to maximize profit. We are meant to wander a little.

By: Amy

Amy — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 00:31:52 +0000

“Never put off until tomorrow anything you can put off until the day after tomorrow.”
Mark Twain

By: valleycat1

valleycat1 — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 23:34:40 +0000

Great pieces of advice only inspire me if they’re something I’m not doing (or at least, not 100%) when I hear them. If it’s something I’m already doing, they don’t strike me as inspirational. I take the great ideas as inspiration & something to aspire to, but don’t feel I’m a failure if I don’t live up to them 100%. We’re all entitled to be human & fall short, and to take a break or be spontaneous from time to time.

By: Steven

Steven — Sat, 16 Apr 2011 22:22:32 +0000

Don’t spend all your time in the future or you’ll miss the present. That’s my bit of advice.

Live is meant for living, not always planning for living later. A person shouldn’t sacrifice all the time in order to build a better tomorrow because that means not enjoying today. If you continue deferring your life, you’re not really living, in my opinion.

There is a balance that needs to be struck, just like so many things in life. If a person is only focused on this moment and fails to plan for the future, when they finally do realize that they’ve ignored their future self, things are going to be an uphill battle for them. But if a person is only looking to the future, and living a life that is not personally gratifying or enjoyable, what’s the point? They’ll continue to defer moments or opportunities because the timing isn’t right (or whatever other reason.)

Do both. Enjoy life, plan (and hope) for a long one, and make every day meaningful and special.