Self-Brainwashing

What I’ve learned

I call it “self-brainwashing” but it’s really just something I do to put myself in the mindset I want to be. These last few years, I have surrounded myself with reading (and listening, via podcasts) materials related to personal finance. This action has allowed me to accomplish two main things I really wanted to do:

• Learn enough about personal finance to actually take action (then take action, obviously)

• Program my mindset to be finance-conscious in my everyday actions/habits

Because I had strategically placed this information where I couldn’t get away from it, I succeeded in these two goals. How had I accomplished this “strategic placement”?

• By having podcasts automatically download and load into a “smart playlist” on my iPod. All I had to do was plug in my iPod every couple of days and I had something new to listen to everyday. Since I had to charge up my iPod anyway, this was zero work after I first decided which podcasts to listen to. Admittedly, finding the right podcasts took some time at the beginning.

• By subscribing to feeds from personal finance bloggers that I enjoyed reading. Again, as with the iPod, I had to first decide which bloggers were worth my time, but after that, I was able to keep the idea of personal financial responsibility at the forefront of my consciousness.

Where I need work

This year, I really want to get serious about fitness and healthy eating as a priority. The biggest obstacle in the past has been in keeping it in the forefront of my mind. I slip up, not because of hunger or tiredness or an intense craving, but because I stop thinking about it. Health just slips my mind and fails to seem very important. I know, that sounds like sacrilege to some people, but to me, that’s just how I roll.

Given 1) information immersion works for me and 2) I see an area in my life where I fail because I stop thinking about my goals, I have decided to take the same approach for health that I did for personal finance.

Where you can help me

Please suggest health podcasts and blogs (with a preference for podcasts, since I will be doing a lot of commuting again soon) that you enjoy. Thanks!

Do any of you guys do this type of conscious immersion?