You'd think after making New Year's resolutions my whole adult life and not keeping any of them all the way through to the end of the year, that I wouldn't bother anymore. It usually has something to do with exercising, eating healthy and saving money. (BTW I am eating french fries, a fried fish sandwich and sipping my diet coke as I write this). After all, Monday is the "government observed" holiday so I'm all good until then right?

Anyway, I think I figured out why I'm not good at keeping my resolutions. It involves rewards and punishments. The reward for not exercising is the no pain thing. The reward for eating like crap is that it tastes good. The reward for spending money is the new shiny stuff. Do the rewards outweigh the punishment that won't be apparent until much later? Reward=instant Punishment= later. It takes self-discipline!

I'm quite disciplined in some areas of life, but that usually involves an outcome that affects other people. I'm not talking about daily chores or hygiene or being on time or stuff that is engrained in us from the time we are born. I'm talking about the extra stuff. For example, if I signed up for an exercise class, I know myself well enough to know that I would ditch the class if I wasn't in the right frame of mind. But... if someone else was counting on me, I would be there. I mop the floor when I'm expecting company, I poke the straw wrappers under the seat of my car if I'm giving someone a ride, I recycle for future generations, I wake up early, but only if I MUST; and yes, even I practice the piano more when I know a performance is coming up.