The Latte Principle

As of this moment, a tall latte at Starbuck’s sells for $3, according ASK.com.  Buy one every day (two if you are a couple), five days a week, and that’s $30 per week or $1,560 per year.  At a tax rate of 25%, you’d have to make over $2,000 to keep enough to cover the annual tall latte investment plan!  Vacation anyone?

 But really, who thinks in terms of the annual impact of what would appear to be a $3 decision?  Truly, most of us only think in isolation – a $3 latte, a negative thought, or a temporary moment of distraction of our time to visit the online sports page.  One peak at the landing page – which usually bleeds into 10, 15, or even 20 minutes – a couple times a day, could actually be upwards of an hour and a half a week, or 78 hours a year!  Funny, until now, this was my home page.

 Or perhaps most devastating - our thoughts…  Imagine if God decided to produce an annual report of our recurring thoughts ranked in order of appearance.  What would the most common thoughts be?  How often would they show up, and what cumulative impact do they have? I suspect if I saw that report on me, I would be far more proactive at filtering and purposefully leading what I think. 

 Whether it’s about our finances, our time, or our thoughts, I believe that if we would immediately see the long term impact of our decisions in these matters, we would make impulse and, ultimately, habitual decisions very differently.  I believe we would edit our thoughts more carefully, choose our expenditures more wisely, and ultimately be more proactive with how and with whom we invest our time.

 Just curious, anyone reading this while enjoying a tall latte at your local Starbuck’s?  It’s all good!