Choosing Delayed Gratification

I used to believe the main reason people made poor food choices was because they lacked the proper education. I’m not so sure of that anymore.

Most people know that eating too much junk food isn’t healthy. Most people know that overeating will pack on excess weight. Most people know that a variety of vegetables is good for the body. This isn’t information that requires a nutrition degree to comprehend.

And yet, obesity rates are the worse they’ve ever been. On an intellectual level, we know we should be eating better. So why aren’t we?

One possibility: we’re choosing the temptation of now over the future.

The ability to prioritize long-term benefits over short-term gains is called delayed gratification. It’s the decision to save for tomorrow instead of spending money today. Or deciding to work hard instead of having fun now, knowing that you can enjoy yourself more once your responsibilities are fulfilled. Delayed gratification opportunities are everywhere in our lives.

Our challenge is that it’s easier to visualize a present benefit than a future one. Turns out that telling people smoking will cause death in 30 years won’t impact cigarette revenues as much as implementing a tax on those sales today. There’s an argument for focusing on effective short-term incentives that align with the changes we seek, instead of simply touting the reasons why we wanted the change in the first place.

Another example: we all know that exercise is good for our long-term health, but that knowledge still doesn’t push many of us to take action. On the other hand, scheduling regular workouts with a friend tends to be effective because we receive the immediate reward of camaraderie.

Delayed gratification requires patience and discipline. But it helps to have a strategy that provides short-term benefits as well as the long-term benefits you’re shooting for.