Getting rich is not that hard, all you need is a goal and a plan. The problem with most people is they never establish the goal! It does not mean they do not want to be rich or successful, but they just keep doing what they have been doing. If you never experienced success, change is difficult! It starts with recognizing what real success looks like. What changes are you willing to make?
Rich, successful people think differently from the rest of us! Although there has been many iterations of the rich thin differently than the rest of us, the reality is they do! “I am getting to know the rich.” (Hemingway) “I think you’ll find the only difference between the rich and other people is that he rich have more money.” (Mary Colum). There are more millionaires now than ever before and we still do not understand how they do it. There have been books written by, for, about them, how to and the riches still elude us.
Can I take a class?
How can you overcome a lifetime of making bad decisions or choices and suddenly know what to do? Thinking rich is not a class given at some elite university or college; it is simply a way of thinking that is vastly different than most everyone else. People who are not rich think much more about now versus the future. Rich people know where they are going because they thought about it. They did not wait for a class or someone to ask them. Is that good planning or luck?
It starts very early! Is it nature or nurture? Can you learn it or are you born with it? There was a famous experiment (Stanford marshmallow) which studied delayed gratification with young children. The children were offered a small reward immediately or two (2) small rewards if the children waited until the tester returned. They found that children who could wait longer for the preferred rewards had better life outcomes based on SAT scores, educational attainment, body mass index and other life measures.
Can you teach a child to delay gratification? Absolutely! If you do not learn it young, you usually do not learn it until considerably later or not at all. Delayed gratification is necessary for saving and investing, living within your means and planning for your future. The ability to wait before you make a purchase or any decision is important for success. Waiting can be gathering information, analyzing or determining if there is enough value to go forward. Certainly an important characteristic of successful people!
What else comes with delayed gratification?
I am sure there are rich people who may not delay gratification occasionally, but not all the time. What else comes with delayed gratification which may help you achieve success? Patience, self discipline, impulse control, willpower, tenacity and perseverance are just a few characteristics of delayed gratification. What strategies do you use to delay gratification? I use planning and research to get the best value from my investing or purchases. I call it value based decision making.
Don’t wait any longer and learn how to delay gratification. It will keep you out debt, you will achieve much more in life and you will not have a weight problem either. In this age of fast food, electronic mail, texting, etc, no one waits for anything anymore. Anything worthwhile takes time! Simple things like an education, experience, career, relationships and so much more takes time. I suppose you could win the lottery, but you will not hold onto that prize without delaying gratification.
Final thoughts
I tried to reduce literally books filled with great information about millionaires to just one characteristic. That one characteristic leads to others which will help you succeed in life. The ability to take control of your life and postpone the reward to the future is what successful wealthy people do all the time. It was something I learned very early and helped me achieve financial independence. We all say, we want to control our lives, but we are unwilling to do what is necessary to do it. What is your strategy to delay gratification? If you do not have one, you should develop one or you will never become rich! Delaying gratification will help you become rich.
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Delaying gratification will help you become rich.
Absolutely, delayed gratification is necessary for saving and investing, living within your means and planning for your future. It’s too hard to delay gratification, especially nowadays that social media are so powerful! But before I made a purchase, I do think of how many times if I really need it.
It comes down to what is important to you! If it is important enough, outside influences have very little effect.
Excellent point. You need to be able to set short term and long term wants, and be able to drive your life and your actions toward both. Only then do you even have a chance at achieving true financial success.
It is like anything you really want to do. You make time for those things and you usually do them. Goals (short & long term) should be the same, but they usually do not have the same priority. It is a choice!
I think the idea of instant gratification is what fuels companies like Amazon and spoils people like us. With smartphones and Internet, we’ve become addicted to instant gratification and people are less patience and more demanding than ever before. I think these social and business changes has lot to do with the reason why this country is in so much debt.
It may be why my students have short attention spans. I am not anti spending, but it should be for assets (investments).
I don’t want to be rich- I want to stay under the radar. The more money I make, the more taxes I have to pay! =/
I used to think that way! I want to be in the highest bracket because I can find ways to lower my taxes.
That’s an interesting study Stanford did. I agree delayed gratification is a critical element of financial and personal success.
The Stanford study surprised me a little! I did not realize I taught my children to delay or defer their gratification by just saying no or not now. I would like to think my wife and I model good behavior too.
I completely agree. My children struggle a lot with it as they are young, but they are learning. Reward charts have helped with this concept.
It is such a simple thing, yet with a society that demands instant gratification, it is a hard thing for many to learn and to put into practice. It works though.
Good job with the kids. Use situations to make teachable moments including modeling good behavior.