Priming

If you've taken any basic psychology course, you've probably heard of priming.  Basically, if a group of people see a flashcard with "SO_P" and recently heard the word "wash" and "clean", they would fill the blank with A to make the word SOAP.  If they had recently heard the words like "stew" or "carrots", they would be more likely to make the word SOUP.

But priming affects us much more than that.  Through introspection, I've found myself to be a money-centered person.  This may have to do with my upbringing with parents emphasizing a great education and a great high-paying job, constant awareness of how much things cost, etc.  In addition, my job as a trader can't help either.  I constantly think in terms of profits and losses, expected values, probability/stats.  CNBC is constantly on TV at work and instead of hearing the words like WASH, CLEAN, STEW, or CARROTS, I'm primed with money related ideas.

Everyone is primed in a certain way.  A priest would view an event through a religious lens, and a scientist would view the same event in a completely different way.  And once we're primed, we develop actions and actions become habits.  And once we keep habits for a long time, our actions become part of our character.  A little priming can go along way.  Recently, I've decided to wear these Buddhist mala beads to prime myself towards Buddhist ideas of compassion, nature, calm and inner peace to contrast my everyday surroundings of the new smartphones on commercials, the latest styles on GQ and all the fine dining pictures on Facebook/Instagram.  One little thing could change behavior in the long run.