We know that the road to success often requires self-discipline, or choosing long-term gain over short-term pleasure: resisting a cupcake in the service of losing weight, enduring the hardship of homework in order to achieve good grades, spending hours in training in order to win an athletic championship, or passing up the unplanned purchases to [...]

On January 1, positive feelings surround the clinking of the champagne glasses and the vow to make changes in the new year. For a moment, our feelings of self-disappointment, defeat, and frustration get replaced by hope and optimism. But are we using the promise of change to fix our feelings and NOT to fix our [...]

We know that people vary in their ability to choose successfully between conflicting desires and impulses. We also know that the road to success often requires self-discipline, or choosing long-term gain over short-term pleasure: resisting a decadent piece of cheesecake in the service of losing weight, enduring the hardship of homework in order to achieve [...]

If you needed to change a money habit and were only allowed to pack three things in your “personal change suitcase,” what would you pack? M. J. Ryan, author of the book This Year I Will: How to Finally Change a Habit, Keep a Resolution, or Make a Dream Come True (2006, Broadway Books) claims [...]

When we set a new money goal, it’s easy to feel the initial surge of excitement that starts us off strong. It’s the same reason that the parking lot is full when you go to the gym on January 2 or 3.  At that point, so many people are still enthusiastic about their New Year’s [...]

We are notoriously bad at predicting how we will think and feel and behave in the future.  Psychologist Daniel Gilbert has devoted much of his research and writing to the topic of the mistakes that we make when we try to imagine our “future selves.” It turns out, though, that meeting and getting to know [...]

Have you ever found yourself in a vicious feedback loop that seems to drain every ounce of your self-control? How about, “I ate more chocolate cake than I should have, so I’ve already blown my diet.  I might as well eat some more.”  Or, “I already blew my budget, so I might as well keep [...]

It’s Money Smart Week 2012 in Wisconsin.  Yesterday, thanks to the invitation of Amy Crowe who is the Community and Education Liaison at the Summit Credit Union, I was honored to co-present with her at the Money Smart Women Conference in Madison. When I listened to various speakers over the course of the morning, I [...]

Think about a time when you had a setback while working toward a financial goal. We’ve all experienced it before.  You’re plugging away, feeling pretty good about your progress, and then poof!  Instant relapse.  You are flooded by emotions that drag you down and refuse to let you get back on track. Think about what [...]

There must be something extra special about spring if it energizes us to wash windows, remove dead foliage from the planting beds, and complete an assortment of dreaded tasks. The other seasons don’t motivate us that way.  We often refer to the “lazy days of summer” and the “hibernation effect” of winter.  But spring has [...]