Opting Out

Do you send in for rebates?  You have to gather your receipt and often cut a piece off the packaging, fill out a form, stick all the above in an envelope and see if you can dig a stamp up from the junk drawer.  If you're lucky you can put it out in the mailbox at the end of the driveway. Otherwise you may have to drive somewhere to find a mailbox.  How much of a rebate makes this all worthwhile?    Manufacturers count on most of us to skip it.  But they can still advertise and attract us with the "after rebate" price.  We have to Opt In to take advantage of the rebate.

Many other things are Opt-Out for that same reason.  Employer 401k plans have been moving in the direction toward signing new employees up automatically when they start, forcing them to "Opt-Out" if they don't want it.  Again, they do this on the belief that the majority of people are likely to skip it and let it happen.

Credit card companies are likewise putting terms changes out to their customers on an Opt Out method that forces them to affirmatively choose to skip the change, and often have to cancel their card.

Opting out/in is a form of manipulation to get people to behave in a favorable way toward some institution or policy.  It depends heavily on the belief that most people will just skip the step because they are already busy enough just living their normal lives.

Now the liberals in Washington are using this same manipulative method of forcing states to Opt Out of participating in the Public option.  The Federal gov't will force the states to pay for the program but will leave it up to each individual state to decide if their citizens can participate.  This is a cowardly approach. (Who is surprised here.) Instead of passing or not passing a bill for the Public Option honestly and openly they are sneaking around through the back door and putting the pressure on each state.  Whether a state opts in or out its citizens will still be on the hook for the taxes and borrowing necessary to fund the program everywhere else.

Don't be manipulated.  Tell your representatives that they need to do the honest thing.

Planning to fail

"If you fail to plan, you plan to fail"

Have you heard this before?  Have you given up on planning because failure/missing the mark/disappointment has been all too common?   Have you ever had to pay a penalty because you didn't plan ahead?  I.e. miss a flight and paid a change fee?  Paid a late fee because you ran out of money before all the bills were paid?    Maybe you're a workaholic and you need to plan some time away. Otherwise it will never happen.  Consider this, things to do are inevitable.  Having things to do is one of those universal levelers across humanity.

"Plans often last until you meet the enemy" 

Military commanders encounter this often.  Great plans. Great strategies.  The enemy does something unexpected.  Of course, the enemy can be a metaphor for any project or task before us.  (Remember we ALL have them.)  Most often we can plan thoroughly and find that there were variables that we didn't/couldn't predict causing us to have to improvise and change our plan.  Have you ever missed a flight even though you left enough travel time to get to the airport but there was an accident or construction causing delays?  Or had an unexpected expense that siphoned off cash planned for other bills?  Have you given up planning because of this?

Failing to debrief after a plan is executed is often like not closing the corral after rounding up the horses.


If the plan worked, why not reflect on why and celebrate?  Repeat successes.  If it failed, even more reason to figure out why not.  Try not to repeat that plan.  Don't you wish that you could have all of that penalty money back, i.e. the ticket you received speeding to an appt?

I know that this should be common sense.  Maybe you're a good planner.  Are you a good debriefer too? Frankly I see people repeatedly not planning and paying the premium for that constantly.  This common sense isn't all that common.  The good news for the rest of us is that we can rise above those who plan and succeed at more opportunities, even gain access to more opportunities.    Of course that would widen the gap between the haves and the have-nots, common sense that is.

Repeat After Me

I hate repetition. Teachers tell me that repetition is an essential tool in learning. I'll have to take their word for it. I hate maintenance because it really is repetition by another name. But hating it and not doing it are different.

I can hate maintenance but if I don't clean my house, my car, my body you can see the outcome. My lawn doesn't stop growing after I mow it. Don't you hate that?

I can hate repetition but if I only go to the gym once, I have wasted even that one time. I have to go repetitively. Interesting that not going is likewise repetition but apparently I don't hate that. If I don't repetitively go to work I will likely lose my house and car and not have to mow my lawn anymore.

David Bach, in his book Automatic Millionaire, tells us this common sense thing. Repetition is essential to wealth. If you save money only once, you will never be wealthier than you are now. He says that it is so important that you should not leave it to your memory. You should set up automatic savings, i.e. through your job or your bank.

Repetition has a cumulative impact. Doing something only once rarely has any long term impact on our lives. Doing something once is an experience. Doing it repetitively builds a skill and a habit.

Repetitive expressions of love and appreciation lead to stronger relationships.

Human beings are creatures of repetition. We repeat things whether we choose to or not. Not exercising can be repetitive. Smoking and other unhealthy activities have proven that they can be repetitive. A wise step might be to make a list of my repetitive activities to consider what the long term impact appears to be. If there are some things in life that you want, consider what repetitive activities could make that happen.

Have you ever considered why some people are successful and some are not? You may have thought that it has to do with talent or money or education. It's really much simpler than that.

Success principle: Repeat positive activities.

PS: God has promised to help us make better choices. You can try to do it on your own but success is more likely when you ask Him to help. Oh and He also encouraged us to keep, repetitively asking. Mat 7:7 "Keep on asking, and you will receive what you ask for. Keep on seeking, and you will find. Keep on knocking, and the door will be opened to you.