Every dog owner should know about what Shirley Chong calls "Doggy Zen". You can find out more about it by visiting http://www.shirleychong.com/keepers/Lesson3.html or checking out the Training Levels program at www.dragonflyllama.com
What does Doggy Zen teach? Self-control. Patience. Delayed Gratification. To get Y, do X first.
The Training Levels program takes the handler and dog through a series of Doggy Zen exercises designed to make sure that your dog fully experiences and understands Doggy Zen in a whole bunch of ever more challenging scenarios.
As I examine my own behaviour more closely, I have come to realise that over the years I've got MUCH better at self-control and experiencing delayed-gratification. If only I had fully developed these skills much earlier in life, I think I would have achieved much more. My parents were, of course, very aware of my need to develop these skills and did whatever they could to foster them in me.
I was reading the Personal Investment section of the local newspaper yesterday. The writer was talking about how difficult it is for people, particularly young people, to realise the benefits of saving and investing. Basically, spending money now gives instant gratification and the behaviour of spending money is reinforced. Saving and investing requires patience, the rewards come much later.
I seem to keep learning this lesson over and over in small doses. When I was younger I used to spend everything I earned. Then I realised that I was not going to be 21 for ever. So I started investing. Some early reinforcement for risky trades saw me eventually start to erode my portfolio when the market turned and my luck ran out. Longer term investing suits me far better, but it does take considerable mental discipline not to bail out of stocks too early because they are either (a) losing money or (b) making money. Either would provide immediate reinforcement, negative or positive.
One thing I am learning is to watch my own behaviour. If I'm doing something, what reinforced it? If I'm reluctant to do something which may benefit me, what punished it? I frequently discover that large chunks of my behaviour are almost completely irrational and based on random reinforcing or punishing events earlier in my life.
Sometimes this prior conditioning is rational and useful. At other times it is neither rational nor useful. It doesn't take much to sort the wheat from the chaff once you start looking.
Reinforcing your own good choices is valuable. When my long-term investments aren't doing so well I examine them in the cold light of day and if it turns out I still think they are worth holding onto, then the simple act of acknowledging that is reinforcing to some extent. After a while your portfolio starts to grow and the reinforcement comes, hopefully sooner rather than later!
I wonder how many people retire under-funded because the drunken walk that Wall St takes reinforces bad investment choices purely by chance? Casinos make their considerable profits by the same mechanism.
Investing is just one example of areas of a person's life where a bit of self-functional-analysis is valuable. Think about relationships, health, diet, parenting, sports etc
I once read that Zen meditation was like turning the light on in a store-room full of junk. At the time I thought Zen meditation was just a long and painful way to get a numb bum. Now I get the "lights on in a store-room full of junk" analogy. Now to decide what is junk, and what holds value?
