A while back, I had that moment when I realized I was a part of the newspaper newsroom. It was when my brain suddenly started thinking in terms of “inches” rather than “word count” (inches are how we measure the length of a story).
I’ve heard people talk about this with foreign languages – suddenly they’re thinking in French, rather than hearing French and internally translating to English. They know they’ve really drunk the Kool-Aid when they start dreaming in French.
When my mind switched from word count to inches, I knew that I’d drunk the newspaper Kool-Aid.
Today I discovered another mind switch. I was listening to Vermont Public Radio during their fund drive – yes, I’m one of those people who actually keeps listening during the fund drive pleas.
As they were rattling off different amounts that you can pledge, I discovered that my old conversation (“I’d really like to pledge but I don’t have enough money”) had been replaced with the new conversation: “When I pay off my debt, I can….”
Which was when I realized – I was thinking in terms of my budget! It wasn’t just that I’d like to contribute, but rather: how much would I have to put aside in my budget each week in order to make the various levels of pledge?
I’ve drunk the budget Kool-Aid! It’s now a part of how I think about my life, my plans, and my money. How much do I have to put aside each week in order to make “x” happen?
And you know what? It feels GOOOOOOOOD!!!!! 
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Image found here – amusingly, it’s on a site about pledging to Public Radio!
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