Because I Deserve It!

Because I Deserve It! We all want  to make good choicesâ€"the correct selection, the most righteous decision. However, our impulsive, mammalian brains like to get in the way and muck it up: rather than relying on reason, data, and facts, we seek to validate our bad decisions via any-means-necessary justification. One of the worst is  Because I deserve it! Unfortunately, we’ve gotten good at using this excuse to push aside logic to give grounds for our screw-upsâ€"and this sense of entitlement is a slippery slope. Sometimes the excuse is benign (initially): After my long day, I deserve an ice cream cone!  Sure, most of us won’t experience negative effects from a single dessert. However, this is quickly torpedoed when one turns into two, two turns into four, four turns into eight, etc. After all, if you deserve one treat, why not more? Why not every day? Even if you deserve it, even if the decision seems  like the right one, there’re myriad good reasonsâ€"rationales based on sound reason, logical thought, or personal intuitionâ€"to ensure  it’s the right decision;  Because I deserve it!  is never one of them. If you find value in The Minimalists, consider donating a dollar.