Dwight: Here's our topic: "How many times a day do you decide to charge usurious rates against yourself?"

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Aiko: It's a brutal question, Dwight, because it frames self-sabotage as a conscious economic choice.

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Dwight: Here’s a simple, everyday example: You know you need to call someone before the day ends, but anxiety makes you delay it. If you just made the call early on, the discomfort would be short-lived and the rest

of your day would be lighter. But by putting it off, the emotional cost compounds—maybe two or three times over. Even at just double the original stress, you’ve effectively charged yourself well over 100% interest just to buy a few hours of avoidance.

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Aiko: That’s a ruthless lens, but accurate. You’re not just delaying discomfort—you’re inflating it, like paying a loan shark version of your own fear.

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Dwight: Here’s another all-too-common example: You know—maybe even plan—to spend a few minutes in the morning laying out your day so that you’re more likely to both enjoy it and get the important things done. That small habit could significantly improve not only your day but your life if followed consistently. Yet for all kinds of reasons—“I’ve got too much to do and I don't have time to plan,” “Let me just get started first, then I'll plan a bit later,” or “Planning will make me feel trapped”—you delay or abandon it. But by skipping that brief investment of time, you’re incurring a staggering, unjustifiable interest rate against your own potential to thrive.

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Aiko: And what makes it worse is how easily it disguises itself as practicality—like you're being efficient by skipping the plan. But really, you're just taking out a high-interest loan against your own clarity.

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Dwight: Here’s a much smaller example: hitting the snooze button in the morning. For most of us, it's just a way of delaying the inevitable—the temporary discomfort of getting up. But that delay costs us the time we could’ve used to enjoy our morning or get things done we actually care about. And if the real issue is not getting enough sleep, that’s a separate problem to be addressed directly—not something solved by trying to steal a few extra, low-quality minutes.

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Aiko: That snooze button is like taking out a payday loan for rest—terrible terms, and you still wake up broke.

 

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