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As humans, we are wired to seek pleasure and to avoid pain. What’s, “pleasurable?” Cookies; Nutella; and Netflix. Soft couches; sleeping in; and social media. What’s, “painful?” Push-ups; Lettuce; and Cardio. Reading books; rising early; and writing blogs. When given the choice, instinctually speaking, we will choose cookies over push-ups. Or Netflix over cardio. Or social media over writing blogs. Unless we learn the power of delaying gratification.
A person’s ability to delay gratification is their ability to control their impulses to obtain immediate pleasure in order to receive a larger or more enduring reward later. You don’t need me to tell you what happens when you choose cookies, a soft bed, and Netflix too often. In the short term and in the moment, it all feels so good! But as soon as the cookies run out or Netflix shows ends (which could easily be never) – you are hit with feelings of terrible guilt, sluggishness, and enduring pains.
Whereas rising early, push-ups and cardio, and reading books leaves you flush with feelings of accomplishment, health, and enduring vitality. What has become increasingly evident to me is that, one of the biggest differences between those who are successful and those who are not, is that successful people do what they know they should do even when they don’t want to do it. As James Clear points out in an article on delaying gratification, “Success usually comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over the ease of distraction.”
If we wait to workout until we’re in the mood, we’re going to end up doing a lot more waiting than we will lifting. If we wait for inspiration to strike, we’re going to end up doing a lot more thumb-twiddling than we will art-creating. If we wait until we’re hungry before we figure out what we want to eat, we’re going to end up eating a lot more junk, processed foods than we will green, wholesome foods. We set ourselves up for success by strategically planning out our actions ahead of time.
