It’s very easy in our current world to allow instant gratification to take over and much harder for us to apply hard work for long term satisfaction
Do any of the below actions sound familiar:
- The urge to indulge in a high-calorie treat instead of preparing a meal that will give you great health benefits
- Getting lost in a social media black hole rather than actioning the tasks you should be doing?
- The desire to hit snooze instead of getting up early to exercise.
- Buying something thinking it will make you feel better
Whilst you are allowing the instant gratification, you’re still left feeling unfulfilled, goals you set yourself are never achieved and the cycle continues. Now you’ve convinced yourself you’ll never change. Reminder that WHAT COMES EASY WONT LAST AND WHAT LASTS WONT COME EASY….
To stop the cycle:
- Write down exactly what you want to stop doing for instant gratification
- When you have an urge for instant gratification, acknowledge what you’re doing and insert a physical and mental pause. Set a timer and distract yourself with something positive for 5 minutes. You can keep increasing the timer as you get used to this process
- Write your long term goals and desires and keep them in plain sight to keep you motivated
- Do something small towards your long term goals daily until this becomes a rotuine
- Share your goals with someone so you have external accountability
- When you seek instant gratification ask yourself what your sacrificing long term
We can all change bad habits we just need to remind ourself to not give up what we want most for what we want in the moment
