The modern world is built around instant gratification and if you want to, you can easily purchase whatever you want online with the click of a button. As a result, you might struggle with “delayed gratification”.
This vital skill means being able to forgo a reward now for a much greater reward in the future. If you can practice delayed gratification, you may see benefits in many different areas of your life, including your financial plan.
Read on to learn more about delayed gratification and how it could transform your life.
The “marshmallow experiment” tests delayed gratification in children
The “marshmallow experiment”, first conducted by psychologist Walter Mischel, is a simple test to demonstrate delayed gratification in children.
Researchers take a group of children aged between three and five and offer them a marshmallow. However, the researchers tell the children that if they resist eating the marshmallow for 15 minutes, they’ll give them a second sweet.
Some children were able to demonstrate delayed gratification and resist temptation for a greater reward later. However, others wanted the instant gratification of a treat and ate the marshmallow within minutes.
Interestingly, follow up studies on the children involved in the experiment revealed the power of delayed gratification.
According to Harvard Business Review, those who showed restraint and didn’t eat the marshmallow immediately had improved test scores at school as adolescents. Additionally, they showed increased activity in the prefrontal cortex – the area of the brain that directs our attention and manages emotions.
This suggests that people who grasp delayed gratification may find it easier to stay focused and control their emotions. That’s why they were able to resist the temptation to eat the marshmallow.
Conversely, the children who couldn’t resist temptation were less able to control their impulses.
As an adult, this inability to delay gratification could affect many areas of your life.
Poor impulse control could affect many areas of your life
The marshmallow experiment demonstrates that if you struggle to delay gratification, you’re more likely to be driven by impulse and emotion. As a result, you could find it harder to make measured decisions.
This might affect you in several areas of life.
For example, you might be more likely to eat unhealthy convenience foods instead of taking the time to cook healthy meals. This is because you choose the instant pleasure of a delicious meal rather than taking the time to cook a healthier meal and contribute to your wellbeing in the long-term.
Poor impulse control could affect productivity in your professional life too. If you have a lower level of activity in the prefrontal cortex, you might be more likely to be distracted by immediate stimulus from your phone or your coworkers, for example.
Additionally, you may find it more challenging to develop positive financial habits. For example, it could be harder to reach your financial goals as you’re overspending. This is because you find it difficult to forgo the instant gratification of an impulse purchase to save money for a future goal.
Luckily, delayed gratification is a skill that you can practice.
3 ways to develop your delayed gratification skills
1. Create long-term goals
Setting clear goals is an effective way to improve your delayed gratification skills. You can visualise those goals when you’re tempted to give in to impulses, making it easier to resist short-term thinking.
For example, you likely have an idea of what you want your dream retirement to look like. So, when you’re tempted to make an impulse purchase, picture all the amazing places you want to visit or the experiences you want to have with your family in retirement.
Often, you’ll realise those experiences will bring far more joy to your life in the long term than an unnecessary purchase now.
2. Eliminate temptations
You can make delayed gratification easier for yourself by eliminating temptations, where possible. Healthy eating is a prime example of this. If you struggle to resist the urge to eat unhealthy foods, avoid purchasing them in the first place. That way, it’ll be easier to focus on your long-term goal of eating well and looking after your health.
It’s not always possible to remove temptations in the modern world, but focusing on the areas you can control may help you develop your instant gratification skills.
3. Reward milestones
One of the biggest challenges when trying to delay gratification is that your long-term goals often feel distant. For instance, you might have decades before you retire. As a result, avoiding the temptation to spend now can be tough as it may feel like the eventual reward is so far away.
That’s why rewarding milestones can be an effective way to stay on track. You might set yourself some smaller savings goals to reach on your retirement planning journey. When you hit one of those milestones, you may decide to treat yourself to a holiday or a new car.
Rewarding your hard work in the short- to medium-term could help you find more balance and prevent the feeling that you’re sacrificing too much to achieve goals that are hard to visualise.
Practising these simple methods to improve delayed gratification could make it easier to achieve your important life goals.
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Please note
This article is for general information only and does not constitute advice. The information is aimed at retail clients only.
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