If you become a disciplined person, your discipline can dominate your mindset. In turn, this will lead you to feel guilty any time you deviate from your own standards or expectations. If you decide to get super fit and live a healthy life, any indulgence can riddle you with guilt. This guilt has the tendency to completely override any satisfaction that you might take from eating a piece of cholate cake (or whatever your guilty pleasure is). The same with finances. If you choose to save and live a frugal life, then spending money can bring a lot of feelings of guilt.

But life isn’t about scrimping and saving every penny, or ensuring every calorie you eat is as nutritious as possible. Life is about being satisfied, fulfilled and happy. I have observed that the best path to this is to be disciplined and hold yourself to a high standard, but to also be able to suspend this discipline so you can indulge in the finer things in life also.

Don’t be too disciplined. Don’t indulge too much. The right answer is a healthy balance between the two.

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