Pay Yourself First at Dawn
The Babylonian principle of saving a portion of all income before spending is a discipline best enacted as a fixed morning rule.
The ancient Babylonian wisdom preserved in the parable of the richest man in Babylon teaches: 'A part of all you earn is yours to keep' — set aside at least a tenth before any spending. Making this an automatic, first-of-the-cycle rule, contemplated and committed to in the clarity of the morning, removes it from the realm of fluctuating willpower. The deeper principle, shared with the tithe and with every saving tradition, is that what is set aside first will be kept, while what is left for last will be spent. Reviewing and honoring this rule in the Brahmamuhurta keeps the long-term self in charge of the impulsive one. Modern automatic-savings and 'pay yourself first' systems are the direct operational descendants of this ancient discipline.
A part of all you earn is yours to keep. It should be not less than a tenth.
Behavioral economists Thaler and Benartzi's 'Save More Tomorrow' program demonstrated that automating and pre-committing savings dramatically raises saving rates, validating the ancient 'pay yourself first' rule as a structural solution to weak willpower.
The Richest Man in Babylon