WHERE DID THE IDEA ORIGINATE?
Delayed Gratification is B.S.
Why not have your cake and eat it too.
“This quality of self-denial in the pursuit of a longer-term goal and, indeed, the willpower to maintain the denial, is excellent training for the boardroom.” — John Viney
Delayed Gratification never made sense to me. Why wait until tomorrow to have what you can today? Tomorrow is promised to no one. We only have today. No, we only have this moment, and that’s all.
So, where did this idea of Delayed Gratification originate? What’s wrong with instant gratification? Wouldn’t you want to feel good about doing what you want now rather than later? Later may never come.
However, that’s not what delayed gratification is. Delayed gratification says, do what you don’t like to do now so you can do or have what you want later.
The gratification comes in the doing, not in the results. James Dean
Delayed gratification is not a success principle; it’s a corporate training guideline. It teaches you to pursue what others want as if it was your own pursuit. Sooner or later, you’ll realize the truth, and you’ll have to make some choices.
You can choose to continue down the path of self-denial chasing after the dangling carrot known as delayed gratification, or you can choose to be true to your self and enjoy instant gratification.
“Too often we decide to follow a path that is not really our own, one that others have set for us. We forget that whichever way we go the price is always the same: in both cases, we will pass through both difficult and happy moments. But when we are living our dreams, the difficulties that we encounter make sense.” ~ Paulo Coehlo
Why do we need to delay gratification when we can have it right now while we’re pursuing our passions?
People may call you selfish or irresponsible for following your dreams and passions, but it is not a reflection of your desires or you as a person of self-worth; it is a reflection of who or where they are. You must keep pursuing your path because you know you can’t not.
“Keep away from people who belittle your ambitions. Small people always do that, but the really great make you feel that you, too, can become great.” — Mark Twain
Delayed Gratification is the older sibling of hard work, another guideline of the corporate culture. Working hard doesn’t make sense to me either. Long hours spent in the pursuit of passion where you lose track of time is not hard work, though it may seem so to others. I’ve always believed that hard work is for the donkeys.
Thank you for reading. I hope you found value in it.
I am a self-proclaimed weirdo, Jack of Many Trades and Master of Some. I live the Freedom Lifestyle — life on my terms, and help those who are interested in doing the same. (Join the Tribe)
“You can let others tell you what it means to be successful, or you can decide it for yourself.”
