This may be the single, most important thing to teach yourself in order to succeed in life.

What is delayed gratification?  It's a daily negotiation with yourself.   You do the chores you dread first, in order to allow yourself the pleasure you seek.  For example, if you have a problem to tend to that day, do it first thing in the morning and treat yourself to a nice lunch if you manage to solve it successfully. 

You award yourself for good behavior and you tend to the hard stuff first (you DELAY the gratification).   If you want to change the way your body looks, exercise first thing in the morning.  Once you get the hardest part of the day done, you'll feel good all day.  If I want to blog on AR, I have to finish the chores I still have left in order to allow myself the pleasure of blogging (that's what gave me the idea for this blog).

Having the "prize" to look forward to, motivates one to finish the tasks quickly and efficiently.  Most importantly:  they get DONE! 

Awarding yourself prizes for a job well done is also very good behavior modification.  If I do well with a particularly difficult problem, I'll splurge and treat myself to something pleasurable like shopping for clothes or a trip.   

This is one of the main lessons I've taught my kids and I am so glad to see that it's working. 

In the era of the INSTANT everything, the notion of "Delayed Gratification" is almost foreign to most.  How about you?  Do you practice "Delayed Gratification"?

Mirela Monte, Your Myrtle Beach Connection  

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