Protecting Yourself From Yourself

As I sit here writing today’s article, I’m snacking on Biena Chickpea Snacks – Sea Salt flavor. You know, when I first tried them, I was not a fan. But I stuck with them for a bit because I love salty food, and this salty food is high in protein, low in calories, and is gluten-free and Non-GMO.?When I went food shopping recently, I really wanted to buy Lay’s Potato Chips. Instead, I bought Biena Chickpea Snacks. I realize now that by buying the chickpea snacks I was simply protecting myself from myself. That me, who was food shopping over the weekend, knew all too well that if I had purchased the Lay’s Potato Chips, I’d be sitting here right now eating them while writing my article. Instead, there are no potato chips to be found, and I’m munching on chickpeas. A win for me.

Success in life is a byproduct of our ability to protect ourselves from ourselves. As humans there’s something primordial in our genes, making it so that occasionally we do things that are not in our own best interests.?Maybe we eat poorly when our inhibitions are down. Maybe we spend money erratically. ?Maybe we make bad relationship decisions. What’s your weakness and how do you protect yourself from it?

Many years ago, I read a book called The Automatic Millionaire by David Bach. Up until that point, I was terrible at saving money. I could have been really good at it, if only there were not so many beautiful shoes in the world. How could I save money when there were shoes waiting for a good home? Then I read, The Automatic Millionaire, and everything changed. The premise of the book is simple, set up an automatic savings withdrawal from your paycheck, and make it so that your own money is really hard to get.?So, I did what the book told me to do. I set up a Morgan Stanley account and set up for small regular amounts to be deducted from my pay. Getting to that money has always been a pain in the butt, and it is for that reason that today I have savings!?I protected myself from myself.

The moral of today’s story is a simple one. We are humans and sometimes we do not practice the best judgment. However, what balances out that ever grasping primordial drive that lives within each of us, is our self-awareness and inherent ability to indemnify ourselves against our weaknesses.

That’s not to say that the process is easy, as it’s usually not that easy as you fight against your own impulses. When I first bought a package of Biena Chickpea Snacks my brain screamed, “Hey stupid. This is not a potato chip!?This is not the kind of salt I wanted!”?But instead of feeding that voice, I kept feeding myself chickpeas. And now I like them. ?Protecting yourself from yourself is not just trickery. The impulses run deep, the voice in your head is loud, and it takes dedication and commitment to fight it.

The same is true when it comes to saving money. Sure, you can make it challenging to get your own money, but it’s still your money, and the bank has to let you have it.

Protecting yourself from yourself starts with tricking yourself, setting up speed bumps, slowing the process down so that you can think before you act. Sure, I can have the chips, but it will take work to get them, and in the process of getting in my car and driving to a store to get them, the more rational me and, from all the hard work put in, well-adjusted me says, “Wait a second. The chickpeas aren’t so bad.”?And of course, I can go get my own money out of my bank accounts, but again, the primordial and, in reality, immediate-gratification me who wants the rush of a new pair of shoes, will be dulled down, by the more sensible me, who will then prevail by knowing that I don’t need another pair of shoes.

Success is not about eliminating weaknesses, but first and foremost realizing we have them so that we are then able to identify and then indemnify them. Indemnification takes commitment to create, but when we do create these stopgaps, they inhibit that ever-tempting dark reaper part of us that wants what it wants right now. Slowing down the process will indeed make it so that our weaknesses will never see the light of day.?The superior sensible you cohabitates with the primordial you, and success, or protecting yourself against yourself, is reduced to a process and simple choices that give the reigns of your will to the rational you and a leash to the other you whose tendency is to act immediately on desires thereby causing harmfulness.