Mental Health and Well-Being
Three Ways to Delay Gratification for Healthier Life
A single mindset shift significantly impacted my health improvement, especially in managing a healthy weight.
How can we improve our health by delaying gratification?
Millions of people suffer from the effects of instant gratification. As one of the causes of impulsivity, boredom is a complex emotion to handle.
We evolved to live on the edge. Interestingly, humans have impulsivity genes aiming to keep us alive.
As highlighted in this scientific paper on BMC, “Impulsivity is a heritable, multifaceted construct with clinically relevant links to multiple psychopathologies.”
The brain creates the urge to communicate what we need at a fundamental level. Some urges might be absolute needs for our survival.
Some might be mixed and conflicting messages if we don’t understand the real meaning of the urge. Emotions are highly complex and caused by chemical, electrical, and biological signals in the cells.
Without going into scientific details, in this story, I share a practical approach that I learned from my two mentors, Janine and Henry, both psychotherapists with medical degrees, as I introduced in my previous stories.
Their guidance helped me and many other people deal with urges, delay gratification, improve health significantly, and gain life satisfaction.
1 — Observe Thoughts and Embrace Emotions
Both Janine and Henry were big on observing thoughts and emotions as part of their mindfulness practices for patients. They taught us the importance of awareness in good physical and mental health.
Thoughts and emotions determine our behavior and habits. And our habitual patterns create our reality. We become what we do every day.
When Janine was helping her patients struggling with overeating and obesity, one technique she used was naming thoughts and emotions such as memory, future worry, and creative ideas.
When I used this technique, I discovered that past regrets and future concerns were predominant thoughts. They triggered guilt and anxiety.
Boredom, guilt, and anxious feelings are uncomfortable for many of us. We tend to avoid, suppress, or numb them. We miss their essential messages when we don’t feel and understand emotions.
As I explained in this story titled How Albert Found the Direct Path to Enlightening Moments, unresolved emotions might cause urges that we cannot make sense of with rational thinking. Emotional stress can be a major cause of strong urges.
2 — Activate the Thinking Brain to Gain Time
Impulsive thoughts and urges come from the primitive part of the brain, amplified by the emotional brain (limbic system).
However, by activating the thinking part of the brain (neo-cortex), we might reduce its effects and manage them better.
Attention, focus, working memory, problem-solving, and task-switching are critical capabilities of the neocortex.
By using these cognitive capabilities, we can observe the symptoms of urges and understand their root causes.
The capabilities of our thinking brain can be used to tame the primitive part of it. When we analyze a situation and understand its intricacies and rationale, the overactive amygdala and limbic system might start soothing.
Counting before reacting and making supportive statements can tame the amygdala reducing hijacks.
For example, make supportive statements such as “It is alright. Everything is under control. This is an urge coming from my repressed emotions. It will go away soon.” Then we pay attention to the urge by asking powerful questions as I touch on the next item.
For instance, if a piece of food creates an urge to eat immediately, we can ask what if I delay it for an hour. Then, it would be here for my consumption.
Gaining time for urges might help them disappear and put the body and brain in a favorable position to deal with them more effectively.
3 — Prime the Brain by Asking Powerful Questions
Asking questions can prime the brain to think and analyze a situation.
Janine and Henry taught their patients that questioning was not judging but trying to understand the messages of thoughts and emotions.
When an urge arises, we might ask various questions with empathy and self-compassion. This caring internal dialogue might contribute to balancing our excessive thoughts and unpleasant emotions.
Here are some powerful questions that we can ask.
Do I really need this thing right now?
What if I do it a bit later?
What benefits does this thing bring to me right now?
What harm does it cause?
How will I feel if I don’t do it right now?
How will I feel in an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year if I do or don’t do it?
What are the short-term and long-term benefits and damages of doing or not doing this thing?
Verbally answering each question can help. However, writing them can bring extra therapeutic benefits. We can get more precise answers when we write about our thoughts and emotions.
Compassionate self-talk and therapeutic writing can be valuable tools to deal with unpleasant emotions, reduce the effects of urges, and delay gratification.
Like countless other people, I have successfully tried both techniques for many years.
Conclusions and Takeaways
We cannot stop thoughts and emotions that trigger strong urges.
However, we can manage them by using practical approaches.
The key points are observing the thoughts, embracing emotions, and using our cognitive capabilities to understand the messages.
This simple approach might balance our thoughts and emotions, reduce the effects of urges, and empower us to manage them better sustainably.
Proactively managing urges can significantly improve our physical and mental health. When we live with fewer urges, we might have a more joyful and satisfying life.
Delayed gratification can reduce emotional eating, consequently reducing weight gain. It is an essential fat loss tool used by many people.
I introduced Three Tips to Eliminate Food Cravings as food cravings and the irresistible urge to eat are major causes of unnecessary weight gain leading to metabolic disorders.
In addition to improving our mood, there are established methods such as cognitive-behavioral therapy (CBT) and dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) to deal with urges.
These techniques leverage the power of the thinking brain. Their effectiveness is proven.
In some circumstances, these therapeutic solutions might be even better than medication.
Therefore, getting advice from qualified mental health professionals and working with experienced psychotherapists can be valuable in difficult situations and severe cases.
Thank you for reading my perspectives. I wish you a healthy and happy life.
Here’s How a Mature-Age Couple Reversed Diabetes and Trimmed Their Bodies with Lifestyle Habits.
Sample Health Improvement Articles for New Readers
Defeat Metabolic Syndrome and Slim Down Waistline with Three Tips
Why 442 Million People Live Diabetic and What We Can Do About it
Six Tips to Prevent Brain Atrophy and Lower the Risks of Mental Disorders
What Can We Do About NCDs Killing 41 Million People Yearly?.
Reduce the Risks of Neonatal Disorders to Prevent Infant Mortality.
Reduce the Risks of Major Diseases with Healthy Lifestyle Habits
I also write about valuable nutrients. Here are the links for easy access:
Boron, Urolithin, taurine, citrulline malate, biotin, lithium orotate, alpha-lipoic acid, n-acetyl-cysteine, acetyl-l-carnitine, CoQ10, PQQ, NADH, TMG, creatine, choline, digestive enzymes, magnesium, hydrolyzed collagen, nootropics, pure nicotine, activated charcoal, Vitamin B12, Vitamin B1, Vitamin D, Vitamin K2, Omega-3 Fatty Acids, and other nutrients that might help to improve metabolism and mental health.
Disclaimer: Please note that this story is not health advice. I shared my reviews, observations, and perspectives for information purposes only. If you have disease symptoms, please consult your healthcare professionals.
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