Mel Abraham#1 Best Selling Author, Money Mentor

The Most Expensive Habit You Can Have

2 Feb 2026 · 1 min

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In this concise monologue, the speaker argues that seeking external approval—asking whether an action would still be desired if no one ever saw it—is a costly habit that masquerades as joy. He links approval‑seeking to emotions, temptation, and the erosion of personal discipline, suggesting that when discipline fails, the underlying drive is often the need for validation. The speaker then critiques mainstream financial advice for treating money as a purely mathematical problem, noting that it neglects the psychological forces that shape financial behavior. He advocates a balanced approach that combines tactical financial strategies with mindset work and emotional awareness.

Chapters

If nobody ever saw this, would I still want it? And if the answer is no, that's not joy, that's approval seeking. And approval seeking is the most expensive habit you can have. Okay. Now, there are other things that come into play with this. Emotions, temptation. And why it starts to erode at the discipline. Okay, See, because if discipline never works for you, this might be why. Okay. This is where most financial advice completely misses the mark. And why I try to balance it with tactical stuff, as well as the psychology, the mindset, and the other things that I see driving financial, which we think is just a math equation, and it's not.