Delayed Gratification vs. Immediate Gratification

tip-o-the-morning

Tom Corley boats - crop

It’s so easy to do the easy. It’s so hard to do the hard. The other night I came home from work, hungry, tired and in need of some R&R. Dinner was waiting for me on the counter. There was a cold beer in the refrigerator just screaming out at me. I went upstairs, took off my work clothes and then I saw my sneakers staring at me. Before any of the demon voices in my head started talking, I took my sneakers, put on my shorts and headed downstairs to my basement. I got on my stair master and for the next 40 minutes I sweat. When I was done I walked into the kitchen, heated up my dinner and cracked an ice cold beer. That dinner tasted so good. That beer, so cold and delicious. As I ate and drank, I felt happy.

It’s so easy to give in to temptation. But sacrificing, by delaying gratification until something important gets done first, makes the thing you delayed gratification on infinitely more rewarding. Our lives are the byproduct of our behavior and the choices we make. When we choose the easy, life’s immediate pleasures lose their flavor. When we choose the hard, life’s eventual pleasures are heightened.

Always choose the hard. Hard and Happiness share more in common than a few letters. They are life’s yin and yang.

 

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Thomas C. Corley About Thomas C. Corley

Tom Corley is a bestselling author, speaker, and media contributor for Business Insider, CNBC and a few other national media outlets.

His Rich Habits research has been read, viewed or heard by over 50 million people in 25 countries around the world.

Besides being an author, Tom is also a CPA, CFP, holds a master’s degree in taxation and is President of Cerefice and Company, a CPA firm in New Jersey.
 
Phone Number: 732-382-3800 Ext. 103.
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Comments

  1. I believe one of the most inspiring things in life… is the TRUTH. Thank you for being courageous enough to speak the truth, even when you know deep down in your heart, that it may not be what we as human beings WANT to hear. Thank you for making the world a better place by inspiring us to be… the very best that we can be.

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