Winning the Battle Against Instant Gratification
It’s no secret that the toughest battles you will have in life are against yourself. These battles always start with the ongoing struggle between instant and delayed gratification. The reason why so many people are overweight and have too much credit card debt is simple. More often than not, instant gratification beats delayed gratification in head to head decision making moments.
If you want to win the battle against instant gratification, accepting this fact must be the starting point. Delayed gratification will always be at a disadvantage in head to head decision making moments against instant gratification.
Therefore, in order to win against instant gratification you must limit these head to head moments. Furthermore, you must do this by eliminating as many decisions between the two as possible through healthy habits and routines.
Every decision you make in the moment is a product of your emotions in that moment. Once you establish healthy habits and routines, emotions are no longer part of the decision making process. Bed time, wake up time, budgets, deadlines, when to workout, what to workout, what to eat, and when to eat must all be part of a routine. You don’t need to be perfect in executing your routine, but the routine does need to be a priority.
Establishing a routine is hard, but you only have to do it once. What’s more, once it’s done instant gratification loses forever.