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What You Misunderstood about Delay Gratification and its Impact to your Wealthy Journey

When you start this journey, you realize that there are some things that are not so good that you are willing to change, and that by changing, you can achieve something far better.

Some of us have it easier. We could just flip a switch in our head and do a 180 degrees change. Some of us find it so hard to make even the small change.

You eventually fell off your objective because it is too hard.

The Marshmallow and Yourself

Psychologist would console you that not everyone is made out to restrict yourself to something you do not like for some far higher goal.

In the 1960s and 1970s, Stanford pscyhologist did a series of experiments on kids. They tested these kids using marshmellows. The kids were lead to a room where they were told that they could eat the marshmellow treat. However, if they delay eating it for 15 minutes, they get another treat. The kids were left to their own devices.

Out of the 600 who went through the experiment, a minority ate immediately. However, only a third of those who delayed eating last long enough to get the second reward.

What the psychologists realize is age was a determining factor as well.

There were follow up studies conducted, where they follow those who could delay their urges and those who couldn’t and they found that those who were able to delay was able to have more success in their lives.

Delay gratification is seen as something built in to us.

Does that mean we are screwed?

What I do not like about the result of the experiment are two folds.

First, it is that you cannot change because you were pre-programmed like that. If you drew the short end of the straw, you do not have success in life.

My belief is that our identity, beliefs and values are shaped by the influences we get in our lives.

This can be good or bad.

Some of us start off with good beliefs but due to the unfortunate environment we are in, are lead to bad values and beliefs.

If we can change for the worse, I believe we can change for the better, which is the objectives of redesigning life here at Investment Moats.

You are confused about your Objectives

The second thing I am uncomfortable is the idea that we are reducing our satisfaction for a period of time to achieve something.

You feel that you are forgoing something now that is better for something in the future.

But is it really the case?

Your future objectives are gratifying.

If not, why will we change so much of ourselves,  so that we are more unsatisfied of our lives??

It is obvious the future objectives is more important than the current objectives.

Your Wealth Machine

Suppose you buy what I talked about in building wealth machine(s). You would like to put your take home income into a system that enables you to generate a sustainable wealth cash flow to let you be financially secure or even independent.

With such a wealth machine, it gives you more buffer in life, enables you to reduce your working hours or be flexible to switch to another scope of work.

I believe that is a gratifying objective.

Why do parents save up for their children’s education? Perhaps it is because everyone tells them it is the right thing to do!

However, I believe the parents themselves are the product of benefiting from what their parents have done for them, or in the absence of that, what they could do for their child since their parents didn’t give them that.

To be able to give your children something that eventually allows them to be successful is a gratifying objective.

If I were to explain how we should look at budgeting, it is matching our values to what we spend on.

You can see the confusion here. How this person spends is very different from what he/she says he/she values on.

Delay Gratification is when we are very unclear what is more important than what.

If you are clear, how much driving motivation do you have for that goal of yours over this current way of life?

If your future goals are not gratifying, then don’t delay it!

If you realize that what you want in the future, say building wealth machine(s) to distribute wealth cash flows when you most need is stupid, then don’t do it.

There is no point delaying something that brings more satisfaction for something that does not have much utility.

Curate your Goals and Objectives

Which goals and objectives you choose, you have to make sure that they are built on fundamentally sound principals.

I have seen so many people rationalizing that buying a Audi, going for a trip in Japan 3 to 4 times is the right thing to do.

They do bring satisfaction. But if you evaluate them in your entire life portfolio, are these evaluation fundamentally sound?

I leave it to you.

More good ideas to re-design your lifestyle for the better financial you can be found here
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Kyith

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Createwealth8888

Sunday 18th of December 2016

For some people; the ability to show off is satisfyingly ( gratifying?). Audi is a big number! Big number. Expensive (big number) stuff! Fewer people can stop themselves from showing off.

Kyith

Sunday 18th of December 2016

hi Uncle CW, its ok to buy an AUDI if what you set out in life is correct.

temperament

Sunday 18th of December 2016

If you can see your delayed gratification just for a day or 2 results in getting better gratification for months to years, then most probably that person (child or adult) will choose delayed gratifications.

And showing off is gratifying because we always like to show we are "one up in everything" compare the next person. This behaviour can be observed from primary school children onwards.

That's why "The Millionaire Living Next Door" is very rare.

He is "self gratifying".

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