The law of diminishing intentions

If you let yourself be distracted by minor considerations, nothing important will ever get finished. Confucius 551 – 479 BC One of the rituals at our house is to go through the Sunday newspaper and pull out the manufacturer’s coupons for items we normally use; the coupons offer a discount if you buy a specific product by a certain date. Toothpaste, toothbrushes, and paper towels are just a few of the coupons we tear out each Sunday. Most of them aren’t going to be used immediately, so they go into a folder or a kitchen drawer. One other ritual we …
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Too many choices

The nature of desire is not to be satisfied. Aristotle 384 – 322 B.C. Today, we’re faced with an increasing number of choices for every imaginable item in our lives. It’s truly amazing the number of options we have. Just think about the last time you went to the grocery; pick any item — bottled water, soda, detergent, paper towels — and the number of choices is absolutely astounding. You’d think that having lots of choices would be a good thing. But it’s not. In his book The Paradox of Choice, Barry Schwartz wrote about a research experiment that was conducted …
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Planning ahead

Setting a goal is not the main thing. It is deciding how you will go about achieving it and staying with that plan. Tom Landry 1924 – 2000 Each morning, I read certain comic strips in the newspaper. I read the comics for two reasons: they provide a bit of humor in an otherwise stressful world, and they often contain a kernel of truth. I don’t normally read Garfield, but my daughter pointed out an installment that contained a valuable lesson. (If you aren’t familiar with the comic, its main character is a cat named Garfield–a stereotypical “fat cat”, lazy …
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