How to Form New Habits

Without being a Deer in the headlights!

Todd Ballenger
May 02, 2025

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"Habitual behavior is just an old decision made unconscious through repetition.

the study on which this rant is based…

The Deer, the Border, and the Imaginary Boundary in Your Head*

You’re not lazy.
You’re not broken.
You’re just trained.

Let me tell you a story.

German biologists tracked a red deer named Ahornia. They mapped 11,000+ GPS points in the Bavarian Forest National Park. The crazy part? Her territory ran right up against the Czech Republic border, but she never crossed it.

No fence.
No wall.
Just an invisible line—a memory from decades ago when the Iron Curtain divided East and West.

That deer was operating inside a boundary that no longer existed.

Sound familiar?

Most people wake up and run straight into invisible borders every day:

“I’m not a salesperson.”
“I can’t speak to groups.”
“I’m just not wired for this or that.”

That’s a lie. You’re like Ahornia—trapped in yesterday’s training. But here's the truth:

You're not hitting real limits—you're hitting historical programming.

And you don’t need therapy for 10 years to fix it. You need action.

Here’s the play:

Notice the boundary — What is one example of where I “stopped” myself today?
Take the opposite action — Your body says freeze? Act. Your brain says learn more? Do the best you can now by acting now and seeing what you learn.
Repeat until it’s boring — You do it once, that’s courage. You do it daily, that’s rewiring. Congrats, you just elevated to a new level of incompetence, but that is the way.

Every time you override an old habit, you’re building a new neural pathway. That’s not motivation. That’s mechanical. That's brain science. That’s freedom.

You don't need more productivity hacks.
You need to step across the imaginary line, my Deer Friend!

No border.
No fence.
Just forward. Let’s Go…

a BORROW SMART CONCEPT
GOT ADVICE?

The percentage of Americans working with a financial advisor varies across studies:

In 2022, 35% of Americans reported having a financial advisor. Statista
A 2024 YouGov survey found that 27% of Americans currently use financial advisors, with higher usage among men (32%) compared to women (22%). business.yougov.com
A 2023 CFP Board survey indicated that 53% of Americans have worked with a financial planner at some point. CFP Board

These variations may result from differences in survey methodologies, definitions of financial advisors, or the specific populations surveyed.

What percent work with a Liability Advisor? Talk about a blue ocean…

Loan Officer -vs- Liability Advisor

There are no known studies on the impact of liability advisors because there are so few of them in the industry. My goal is to train 1,000 CLAs before I retire, and right now there are fewer than 300 active in the mortgage industry… good lord, what a blue ocean.

The only study I could find for financial advisors was talking about overlooked support, it is the GOLD we are mining below.

Step 1 - Call on financial advisors and explain what real Debt Management is (also known as Liability Management, executed by a Certified Liability Advisor).

Step 2 - As we increase financial advisor awareness and they share it with their clients, we see growth in liability management as your referral base expands.

Winner winner chicken dinner.

confidence is everything when it comes to taking action!

LIABILITIES
What’s Happening?

rates hanging in there but trending lower still

turning to debt to fund daily expenses

debt acceleration will slow as assets and free cash flow slows

spending is slowing - recession ahead? that would be good for lower rates!

growth slowing

and jobs growth is also slowing

if we can get volatility down, rates will come down through narrower spreads (still at historical high values) as discussed in prior posts

6’ - Self Mastery Through Conscious Autosuggestion

Alchemy of Self | 1' - 10' Deep Dives · Episode

open.spotify.com/episode/1AXG86Sqho2Nr9Bje3QMUD?si=PjArIm9zQ2adl6aNyjRxTw

REAL ESTATE
What’s Happening?

declining from the prior week - YAY!

taking longer to save up as house prices accelerate

sales still declining

prices holding strong

but real values starting to slide

The liability advisor was keen,
He budgeted snacks by the bean.
"Risk is a game—
But losses bring shame!"
He said, sipping low-interest caffeine.

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