Nowadays, we’ve grown used to being able to get what we want in an instant, whether streaming our favourite shows, or online shopping with ease.
Technology has made our lives easier, but it’s also trained us to expect and crave immediate rewards which has damaged our productivity and reduced the likelihood of achieving success over the long term.
Instant gratification has subtly changed our behaviour, making us impulsive and learning our ability to make good decisions. Thus, it’s becoming ever more crucial to look at the concept of delayed gratification and how to use it to our advantage. We must learn how to forego immediate gratification for better rewards later.
In the rest of this piece, we’ll talk about the significance of delayed gratification and discover how you can develop this useful skill.
Let’s get into it.
What Is Delayed Gratification?
Delayed gratification describes being able to resist the lure of an instantaneous reward in to get a better one at some point in the future. The same concept is sometimes called impulse control.
In 1920, in his essay ‘Beyond the Pleasure Principle’ Sigmund Freud suggested that people instinctively look for pleasure and avoid pain. According to the ‘Pleasure Principle’ we’re motivated by a craving for instant gratification to satisfy our basic needs so that we can survive.
The problem with applying that same principle to the modern world is that it can lead to impulsive behaviour and snap decisions that put our immediate pleasure before our goals. Such behaviour can end up causing us harm. For example, it could lead to us developing health problems or land us in financial difficulties.
Instead, we should look to delayed gratification to help us manage our impulses.
There are multiple examples of this in our everyday lives. Here are just a few.
- Resisting the urge to consume unhealthy food and instead eating a healthy diet so you can stay in good shape.
- Saving money and making sound financial choices now so that you have a brighter financial future and can meet your long-term goals.
- Choosing to study rather than pursue leisure activities so that you can achieve better grades and have better prospects for your future.
- Investing time and effort in taking on bigger challenges, making useful connections, and learning new skills even if you must make some sacrifices, to achieve what you want to in your life and career.
Next, let’s investigate why delayed gratification is important.
Why is Delayed Gratification Important?
Being able to delay gratification shows you’re able to exercise control and choose to give up pleasure now for bigger rewards in the future.
Those of us who can exercise self-control are more likely to achieve more and derive more satisfaction from life. Here are the main reasons why sometimes resisting temptation can yield more significant, meaningful future rewards.
You’ll Achieve More
Delayed gratification trains you to exercise self-control so that you can aim for and achieve your goals. By not giving in to temptation, you can focus and work on what truly matters to you so you can become more successful.
The ‘marshmallow experiment’ carried out by Mischel in 1972, highlights the benefit of delaying gratification.
Children had the choice of eating one marshmallow straightaway or holding off a little while before getting two marshmallows.
Years later, it was found that children who were able to resist their impulses and wait for the two marshmallows excelled more in different areas of their lives than did the children who opted for instant gratification.
Improved Health and Wellbeing
Delayed gratification encourages healthy decision-making and behaviour. Check out how decision-making templates can make this easier.
Those of us who can successfully delay gratification are more likely to be healthier than those who don’t practice impulse control. In the same vein, choosing to exercise rather than lead a sedentary lifestyle can result in long-term benefits such as having more energy.
If you want to find out more about how what we eat impacts productivity, read ‘Eating Habits to Break if We Want to Be Productive.’
You’ll also learn to manage your emotions and avoid making snap decisions fuelled by them.
Improve Your Self-Worth and Confidence
Denying yourself demands focus and self-control. When you can delay your gratification, you’ll gain confidence because you’ll know you’ll be able to control your impulses. This means you’re more likely to believe that you will succeed when you take on a task.
The practice of delayed gratification often involves overcoming challenges. As you learn to stay focused, you’ll become more resilient and adaptable. This will boost your sense of self-worth.
It’s time to go through ways you can practice delayed gratification and develop this skill.
How to Develop the Skill of Delayed Gratification
You can learn to delay gratification, like any other skill. Here are some things you can do.
Pinpoint Your Goals
Setting goals gives you a clear view of what you want to accomplish. This helps you stay focused and avoid distractions and temptation and anything else which don’t fit in with your goals. Wanting to achieve your goals helps motivate you to sacrifice immediate pleasure for something even better later.
You can set a SMART goal that goes one step beyond the usual. You can also note why you want to set a particular goal. It may give you the extra push to get going.
Use visualisation to stay motivated, so that you can reach your goals. Learn more about visualisation and productivity.
Get Rid of Temptation
Temptation and distractions lead to thoughtless behaviour, meaning you will seek out gratification and pleasure. By reducing the number of distractions you’re likely to encounter you’ll be more likely to hold out against temptation and work on things that help you work toward your goals.
Break Down Obstacles into Achievable Tasks and Milestones
Complicated tasks can easily become overwhelming, leading to procrastination. You can approach your worth with more confidence by breaking down larger projects into more manageable tasks.
Celebrate Hitting Milestones
On your journey to achieving an ambitious goal, each step you take is like a milestone. Recognising and celebrating small achievements boosts your motivation. The sense of fulfilment you get will help you stay motivated when faced with temptation.
We also get positive reinforcement from delaying gratification.
Practice Mindfulness
Practicing mindfulness improves self-awareness and allows you to become more attuned to your impulses and emotions. You can then recognise when you crave instant gratification and decide what you’re going to do about it.
Stress and strong emotions often make us seek instant gratification, but mindfulness meditation can help control these emotions, so you can respond to setbacks and challenges with calm and focused intent.
By employing these useful strategies, you can become better at delaying gratification and can achieve what you want in life.
Wrapping Up
Delayed gratification can play a vital role in our lives; indeed, it can help us reach our full potential and achieve our goals, regardless of what they may be.
Delaying gratification boosts discipline. What’s more, we can make more informed decisions because of our calm, measured approach. Use the strategies given here to develop this skill.
We must recognise that what we do today shapes our tomorrow. So, start with small things and keep practicing delayed gratification. Soon, you’ll be achieving things you never believed you would.
Good luck!
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