Over the last two decades, psychologists and behavioraleconomists have studied the “want” vs. “should” dichotomy.

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This is the internal conflicts each of us faces when we makedecisions. It explains why we buy candy instead of carrots, readromance novels instead of the classics, and spend today instead ofsaving for tomorrow.

Researchers have identified five everyday situations which tiltthe odds of making the more beneficial choice against us (see“How the 401k Fiduciary Can Help Retirement SaversMake Better Decisions (Part I),” FiduciaryNews.com,August 23, 2016).

Here’s the problem. Those “everyday” situations aren’t merelycommon, they’re downright pervasive. People don’t stumble upon themevery now and then -- they represent a regular daily feature innearly all of our lives. For example, do you ever find yourselfjuggling multiple tasks or embedded in any other stressfulsituation? If your brain can’t focus, you’re more likely to make asuboptimal decision. Similarly, how often do you find you “reward”yourself with a “devilish” treat after doing something good?

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Face it. When it comes to the “want”/“should” conflict, thecards are stacked against retirement savers. There are simply toomany instances where circumstances place you in a position wheresimple inertia causes you to make a “want” decision when you’d bebetter off making a “should” decision.

There are ways (which we’ll discuss next week) to proactivelyalter these circumstances, but you can’t change the course of amighty river forever.

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That got me thinking. The want/should conflict reminds me ofmany other times when it’s hard to do the right thing.

That could be standing up against a bully, making that extraeffort to get yourself into condition for the big event, orexercising 30 minutes a day every other day. It’s hard to do allthose things. It’s easier to avoid conflict and avoid work –whether mental or physical. That’s where inertia keeps us, as inNewton’s First Law of Motion: “A body at rest tends to stay atrest.”

Of course, any physics aficionados out there might recognizethat I left out “unless a force acts upon it” from that portion ofNewton’s First Law. For the purposes of our discussion, that“force” represents those proactive ways to deal with theenvironmental reality of the want/should dilemma. (Again, we’lldiscuss those next week.)

For now, though, I’d like to turn your attention to the secondpart of that First Law. It states “A body in motion tends to stayin motion” (again, there’s that pesky “unless a force acts uponit,” but that’s not relevant).

In other words, inertia works both ways. It can cause you tostay still or keep moving. Whatever you’re doing, it keeps youdoing it.

Now, with that in mind, let’s go back to the examples we gaveearlier showing the tendency to make the “want” decision instead ofthe “should” decision. In each of those cases, without changing thepre-existing “want” inducing environment, we know of one activitythat can cause someone, despite the circumstances, make the“should” decision – training.

Think about it. Training instills a discipline that, if doneproperly, creates a positive habit. Remember that second part ofNewton’s First Law? The part about “staying in motion”? An ongoinghabit represents the real-world application of this “staying inmotion.”

And when is the best time to develop habits? When we’re young.If you learn to exercise 30 minutes a day as a youth and continueto do it year after year, it’s much more difficult to stopexercising. You’ll feel empty – like you’re missing out onsomething – if you take a break from this daily event.

Now, substitute the word “saving” for “exercise.” Here’s anexample of how to develop that habit in a child. Let’s say thechild receives an allowance of $5 a week. Don’t give the child a $5dollar bill, give the child five $1 bills. Then have the childphysically place that $1 in a piggy bank (or some such thing).

Week in and week out, every time the child gets $5 the childputs away $1 in a bank. At the end of the year, have the childcount the savings. It’s $52 – more than ten times the weeklyallowance!

Now, add to that compound interest and you’ve really got a habitworth keeping!