Win Now Or Win Later?
Why are you likely to want instant gratification than wait for long-term rewards?
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If you were to decide between hanging out with your friends today and applying for some long-form opportunity that you are uncertain about getting, the chances of hanging out are usually higher than staying at home to fill that form.
But that’s a stretch.
Will you prefer to have $10 today or $23 in three months from now?
Whatever your responses might be, whatever might have influenced your decision, you should understand that you are not alone.
I have often been curious as to why people —myself, inclusive— without introspection, will often jump at what’s near and instantly gratifying. I have despised boredom, especially at work, so I enjoy getting on projects that keep me occupied for long periods, with little checkpoint rewards. But, from time to time, I do enjoy some instant gratification.
[Do you agree with Robert Greene?]
So, why? Why do we often, almost immediately, want things now than wait for the long-term and possibly get more satisfaction? Why do we overload our neural system with little busts of instant pleasures when we can build resilience for understanding, living with, and enjoying the waiting periods?
There’s research on that!
I found a lot of materials on that. But the one I found the most ‘complete’ (which might have been the one that spoke most to my bias) was this research from Princeton University.
While there are many twists and turns and bends, the summary of what they discovered after studying 14 students in a simple test, similar to the one at the beginning of this NAN is that “decisions involving the possibility of immediate reward activated parts of the brain influenced heavily by neural systems associated with emotion. In contrast, all the decisions the students made -- whether short- or long-term -- activated brain systems that are associated with abstract reasoning.
Most important, when students had the choice of an immediate reward but chose the delayed option, the calculating regions of their brains were more strongly activated than their emotion systems. When they chose the immediate reward, the activity of the two areas was comparable, with a slight trend toward more activity in the emotion system.”
If you were wondering what the tests were like, it was this:
The students “were asked to consider delayed reward problems while undergoing functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI), a procedure that shows what parts of the brain are active at all times. The students were offered choices between Amazon.com gift certificates ranging from $5 to $40 in value and larger amounts that could be obtained only by waiting some period, from two weeks to six weeks.”
If you are an instant gratification person, you are likely to make emotional decisions. If you are a waiting-for-the-sun person, you are likely in touch with abstract, futuristic thinking. While one may seem advantageous over the other, I believe that there are times when you have to follow your guts and emotions, and there are times when you have to plan very smartly.
The trick is training yourself to resist jumping on a whim to either futuristic or instantaneous gratification. rather, grow to know when to want your flowers today and when to wait for a bouquet.
TEA
“So, I have an online workshop coming up on the 19th of November themed "Design Your Dream Life" and I know it's something your NAN subscribers will benefit from,” was the message I received from Nusaybah, and after going through what the opportunity was about, I agreed that it really was something a NAN subscriber would be interested in.
Look at the flier and you will agree same:
And you know the coolest part of her pitch? “Of course, the tickets will be available to them [NAN readers] only at the early bird price.
So, hurry up and register now!
Until the next NAN, be kind to yourself and the world around you; be patient with yourself and others; love yourself and the people around you; do not give up on things that matter to you unless giving up will provide you more peace and security.