Episode #1 Delay Immediate Gratification

Five Problems

• We have become accustomed to getting whatever we want, whenever we want it.

• Spontaneous choices based on immediate desires rarely help us to achieve our goals.

• The stakes of our decisions are the highest they’ve ever been, and they will only grow.

• We often attempt to fulfill legitimate desires in illegitimate ways.

• We will not wake up one day having become someone we have not been becoming.

Seven Principles

• Every moment matters, and each choice counts.

• The ability to delay immediate gratification breeds success in every dimension of life.

• Delaying immediate gratification is more like a skill we develop than a switch we flip.

• Our desires are important, but they should never be our only consideration.

• If we delay immediate gratification, a desire or temptation often loses its power.

• We can accomplish our most important goals through bite-sized daily decisions.

• Discipline in small areas builds the muscle to do hard things where it matters most.

Five Practices

• Say no to what you want right now in order to say yes to what you want most later.

• Honestly evaluate, “When was the last time I delayed immediate gratification?”

• Repeat the phrase “DIG it” when faced with desires that oppose your long term goals.

• Practice saying ‘No’ to a desire for just 10 minutes, and make a healthy choice instead.

• Do not delay the practice of delaying immediate gratification, but begin today.