Filed under: Life Lessons
I have always been very intrigued with this term “delayed gratification” and am a strong believer in what it means. A simple way of understanding it is by asking yourself if you can wait to enjoy something that could have better consequences in the future.
A lot of books give this example. A child is being offered ten sweets. He can either take the ten sweets immediately, or wait for an hour and be given twenty sweets instead. What he chooses in the end is a good example of delayed gratification.
If the child had simply taken the ten sweets immediately for his own enjoyment, with no regard for the extra ten that could be his, he displays no signs of delayed gratification. if he had however, waited for that hour and in the end received twenty sweets, we can then say that this child has displayed delayed gratification. In other words, he has managed to wait a little longer in order to get more enjoyment out of his twenty sweets.
In life, this also applies everywhere. Are you the type who would spend every single cent of your salary on clothes, movies, food and drinks once you receive it; or are you the type who would save a little each month and after a few years have enough to take a trip to a desired holiday? I applaud and congratulate you if you belong to the second category.
There is no right or wrong category to belong to. After all, there are all types of human beings and life would be so much less interesting if we were all the same. But I believe that delayed gratification exists in people who are able to look far into the future and plan for a bigger picture, and hence is able to be more successful in the long term.
I myself have unconsciously displayed delayed gratification back in school, when I would choose to stay home and revise my school work instead of hanging out at Macs with my friends. The result is evident as I emerged tops in my graduation year.
How then can you also learn to delay gratification to enjoy its benefits? First, you have to believe in it and that it will have positive consequences for you. If you are the kind who ‘lives for the moment’ then I’m afraid this concept might not sit well with you. If you however wish to use this concept in certain areas of your life, it will already be a good starting point.
Once you believe in it, you have to start living it. Take baby steps in applying this concept. For example, if you come across a situation that enables you to choose – whether to go for a coffee break or finish up that proposal that could earn you a promotion – delay that coffee break and concentrate on that proposal. The long term positive consequences of a promotion far outweighs a few coffee breaks. Try to avoid the easier path, and instead ‘force’ yourself to do the tougher thing first. You will soon come to realise how powerful and how everything falls into place when you start to practice delayed gratification.
Enjoy the greater things in life with a simple concept 
