Last year, I bought 16 oz cup of Alpine Strawberry ice cream from a small eatery across the street from Columbia University, and it changed the way I’ve thought of purchasing this type of good ever since.

As I enjoyed the creamy treat, I realized that I was deriving less and less satisfaction from each additional bite. The effect was so extreme, that as I scooped towards the midpoint of my cup, I found myself annoyed that there was even more ice cream to dig through. And, even though I didn’t want to eat it, I continued eating dutifully to avoid the guilt of wasting food.

When I finally emptied and disposed of the white styrofoam container, I realized that what I was purchasing wasn’t the ice cream, it was enjoyment derived from the experience of eating the ice cream.

The nonlinear relationship expressed on the ice cream store menu suddenly made sense. Larger sizes were disproportionately less expensive when compared using an assumption of a set amount of enjoyment per unit volume, which corresponded to the reality that enjoyment extracted from the ice cream as it was consumed fell over time.

The integral of ice cream enjoyment in reality creates a measured enjoyment that is significantly less than the expected enjoyment estimated using the misguided assumption that there is a direct correlation between enjoyment and volume. Additionally, there are further negative enjoyment effects, such as an expanding waistline, to be taken into consideration.

Purchases of things that temporarily improve your life at the cost of future well being should be avoided.

I’ve read The 4-Hour Work Week by Tim Ferriss twice now. The second time I read it, I was able to suspend my disbelief more effectively. Every step required to achieve financial success without losing your life to your job is laid out in absolute detail. He leaves no excuses for you to not put yourself on the path to becoming a millionaire vagabond in 6 months or less.

Be sure to check out the accompanying blog and website for even more life tips and inspiration.

One of my favorite parts of the blog are the interviews. Here are some of the cooler ones:

Tim Ferriss and Kevin Rose Discuss Their Top 5 Must-Read Books

Kevin Rose and Tim Ferriss Discuss Angel Investing and Naming Companies – Tim’s approach for naming his book was a great demonstration of market testing.