By Tim Herrera
I have this awful, corny joke I trot out whenever I’m glossing over details for future plans with friends or brushing off something I don’t want to deal with: “That’s Future Tim’s problem. Let that chump deal with it.” Poor, poor Future Tim. Constantly set up for failure by that jerk Past Tim. As Present Tim — who, ahem, is always on top of things — I can say that Past Tim isn’t bad. He’s just wired that way. And I’m sure as you’re reading this, a few instances come to mind of when Past You has, quite inconsiderably, set up Future You for failure. Why do we do this to ourselves? What makes us act against our own self-interest, even when we are acutely aware we’re doing so? Read more…