Practical Strategies For Overcoming Instant Gratification

Gratification is the pleasurable emotional reaction of happiness when a desire or goal is fulfiled. Like most emotions, gratification is a motivator in all human social systems. 

While gratification brings a sense of fulfilment and brings satisfaction, instant gratification can lead to worries in the long run. In this post, we will explore how you can overcome instant gratification.

What Is Instant Gratification

Instant gratification is a habit in which one indulges in momentary pleasures to overcome short-term pains. This consequently results in long-term pains. In other words, it is human to find reasons or excuses to disregard the necessary actions to indulge in instant gratification at the cost of one’s short-term and long-term goals.

So, is there anything wrong with instant gratification? 

Yes! Let us take a look at two different standard ways of living. The first way is instant gratification: putting off work to chat or talk with friends, snoozing the alarm to delay getting up, eating expensive food and drink, incessantly surfing the internet, playing video games, buying an expensive TV, or setting up a home theatre, uninhibited shopping, gambling, etc., to list a few examples. Instant gratification makes us do anything we want without any limits and restraints. This attitude leads people to a debt trap, bad health, and an unhealthy life. 

The second is the opposite of the above way of life: enjoy most of the above, but modestly and with restraint. This behaviour gives you a healthy way of living by enjoying all the gifts of life. To understand instant gratification psychology better, let us look at the history of instant gratification and the science behind it.

A Brief History Of Instant Gratification

The desire for immediate pleasure is a primal human urge. While the expression "instant gratification" is modern, the dilemma of waiting for a bigger reward and taking the smaller pleasure now has likely been around forever.

The Science Behind Instant Gratification

Hormonal and nervous stimulations drive instant gratification psychology. Our brains are wired to balance seeking pleasure and avoiding pain. This basic principle, the pleasure principle, is rooted in our evolutionary need to survive and reproduce. 

Fueled by dopamine, the reward system fires up when we anticipate or receive something pleasurable. This system is powerful in the limbic system, our emotional brain. However, the prefrontal cortex, responsible for planning and self-control, develops slower. 

This creates a conflict: the emotional brain pushes for instant gratification (like that tasty cake!), while the logical brain argues for delayed rewards (like long-term health benefits). The outcome depends on the situation and individual brain development.

Benefits Of Resisting Instant Gratification

Want a healthier life? Skipping that instant gratification might help! Studies show people who wait for bigger rewards tend to sleep better, exercise more, eat healthier, and feel less stressed. It takes practice, but developing this skill can lead to many benefits down the road.

Resisting instant gratification can greatly affect your financial planning and management. Here is how saying no to short-term pleasures can lead to long-term financial gains:

• Save And Invest: By skipping impulsive purchases, you free up cash to invest for the future. The power of compounding can grow your savings significantly over time.
• Avoid Debt Traps: Resisting instant gratification can help you avoid unnecessary debt.  Instead of having the habit of shopping every day, save up for the big purchases you always dreamt of.
• Reach Your Financial Goals: Delaying gratification helps you prioritise and achieve your long-term financial goals faster.

How To Overcome Instant Gratification?

Here are some ways to manage the urge to be instantly gratified and achieve your short-term life goals:

• Keep A Watch On The Urges: Almost all humans have urges, such as checking email or social media constantly, eating rich foods, or finding means for distractions. However, be aware of your impulses for instant gratification and learn to delay acting on them. Also, think judiciously before you use credit cards or buy things on EMI. 
• Delay Acting On Gratification: Instead of acting on the urge immediately, evaluate the needs. Keep space between the urge and your action to help reason prevail over emotion. 
• Decide Consciously: If you respond to immediate gratification, do it consciously and thoughtfully, not just following your whim and urge. You take control of your mind and brain before deciding how you want to respond to your impulses. Making conscious choices will help you make wiser and more mature decisions. 
• Learn Lessons: Humans naturally give in to urges sometimes, but the key is to learn whether the decision was good. The next time you have to decide when an urge arises, draw lessons from the learnings to make a wise decision. Over time, your choices will get better if you are ready to learn from experience. 
• Enjoy The Moment: Life is meant to be enjoyed, but you can enjoy it recklessly or carefully. For example, two kinds of food can be delicious, but one may be healthy and another not. You can enjoy both if you consume them thoughtfully. Once you make a choice, accept it and enjoy the moment; don’t cry about a conscious choice. 
• Mindset Change: Arguably, the most crucial factor in achieving short-term goals is changing one's mindset to saving first and spending later. This will help you budget your finances and, in turn, your lifestyle so that you can understand patterns in your monthly expenses. 
• Goal Achieving: If you save money for some goal, ensure that you complete the goal for which it is earmarked. For instance, if you have saved money to fund a foreign trip, complete the trip; this will help you plan for more short-, medium--, and long-term goals.
• Financial Planning: Planning for your finances is one of the critical elements you must consider when investing. If you cannot decide how and where to invest your money, consult a financial expert to set your short-, medium-, and long-term financial goals. 

Conclusion

In a nutshell, do not avoid gratification entirely, but respond to it mindfully. Invest your money judiciously to care for your financial goals of various ranges and magnitudes. Allocate money for investment before you budget for expenses. Managing investment is critical and can spread across multiple asset classes depending on your risk appetite. 

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