Pace and Power

Success or Repeated Failure?....How ”fit” are you at delaying gratification?

"The ability to discipline yourself to delay gratification in the short term in order to enjoy greater rewards in the long term is the indispensable prerequisite for success." – Brian Tracy

Today’s world is based upon instant results. When one considers the huge leaps made in technology over the past 5 years, we are able to live in an instant world - where all information, communication and interactions are available instantaneously to us: We have become conditioned to instant responses.

And so the concept of “delayed gratification” seems almost out of place, an old-fashioned notion in this “instant” society...However, possibly one of the greatest gifts that your parents (hopefully) bestowed upon you was the gift of discipline and patience; of not always getting what you wanted immediately. These were our first lessons in delayed gratification, quickly discarded when we escaped as young adults into the world of our new-found freedom. But, it is this skill, the skill of resisting an impulse, of delaying gratification, that is fundamental to success in any field. And like fitness training, if you don’t use it, you lose it… You become “deconditioned”. Conversely, when used frequently, this skill translates into every aspect of your life: Not only are you disciplined with training and eating, you become disciplined with your work ethic, the way you spend your money; your lifestyle and countless other areas.

Since immediate gratification has permeated most aspects of our lives today, how does one re-learn an “old” but valuable skill? Riding out an unpleasant feeling / situation is not comfortable and it is certainly not easy: Ignoring the drive for an immediate release or escape takes effort and discipline…You can have all the resources and support-systems in the world – such as the best trainer, the finest health-chef and the latest exercise equipment, but unless you cultivate this skill for yourself, getting into peak shape and successfully maintaining it, will always be a struggle.

How the Brain Works: Instant versus Delayed Gratification

We have the ability to project our minds into the future – to consider where we would like to be. We are strongly motivated by future possibilities. We can make sacrifices now such as putting aside money for a holiday later. We set money aside for our kids’ education and for our pension: It’s quite normal for us to live in, and plan for the future as well as reside in the present.

But when it comes to poor eating habits (or any other bad habit), we do what is called “delayed discounting” – which is the tendency to discount (or undervalue) the significance of a future reward simply because it seems to be a long way off. In other words, rewards that are further away in the future are not given as much importance as the rewards that are immediately gratifying.

A recent study...

Scientists Samuel McClure and his colleagues have shown that perceived rewards of the future versus perceived rewards that are immediate activate two different areas of the brain.

In the study, they asked people to decide whether they wanted to receive a gift voucher from Amazon immediately, or whether they were prepared to wait 2-4 weeks to get a larger gift voucher. The subjects thought about these options whilst lying in an fMRI brain scanner that took images of their neural activity. This is what the scientists discovered:

Those subjects who were able to wait for the larger gift voucher to be received in the future, showed more brain activity in the prefrontal cortex, which is associated with logic, rationality and planning. It is the medial pre-frontal cortex that urges us to be patient, to delay now - for greater rewards later. As a result, some of the subjects chose the more rational option by overcoming the ‘delay discounting’ bias towards immediate gratification. This ability to delay instant gratification, to overcome the impulsiveness of the ‘now’, is an important part of what psychologists call ‘executive function’.

Wikipedia describes executive function as

“abilities to differentiate amongst conflicting thoughts, determine good and bad, better and best, same and different, future consequences of current activities, working toward a defined goal, prediction of outcomes, expectation based on actions, and social "control" (the ability to suppress urges that, if not suppressed, could lead to socially-unacceptable outcomes)”.

Executive function is known to be important for overall success in life in social and financial terms, allowing for prudent investments, long-term planning and success.

Conversely, in this study, those subjects who thought about getting the gift voucher immediately, showed more neural activity in the emotional seat of the brain - the midbrain dopamine system and nucleus accumbens

To quote Wikipedia again, this section of the brain is:

“...thought to play an important role in reward, pleasure, laughter, addiction, aggression, fear, and the placebo effect.”

In other words, emotion-driven decisions usually get us to eat when we don’t need to; to spend more than we have; to drink more than we should; and to rack up our credit cards more than we can afford. These demanding, impulsive, emotion-driven decisions usually hijack our success in the long term.

An interesting twist in a later brain-tempting study!

Another similar study was conducted in April 2010 by neuroscientists at the University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf. This study was also done in an fMRI brain imaging magnet. In their experiment, participants were given a variety of different rewards from 20 to 35 Euros, and a variety of reward delivery times (immediately, 30 days, or 45 days). Their findings confirmed that when people imagined future events, the prefrontal cortex was activated.

But the researchers added a very interesting twist: Some of the participants were asked to think about what they would be doing in their lives at the same time as when they would be receiving the reward (in 30 or 45 days time).  The results were enlightening: When people were cued to think about personal future events occurring at the same time as receiving the reward, they were significantly LESS likely to undervalue the future reward. On the contrary, the perceived value of the future reward increased. In addition, their self-control amplified with the ability to imagine more vividly that moment in the future.

It would seem that when we activate "future-orientated processing", the future seems more tangible and real. As a result, we're better able to shrug off the emotional pull towards immediate gratification. This is a useful application for dieting and training (as well as for general decision-making). If you can vividly imagine that moment of reward in the future that integrates other significant areas of you life, then self-control and rationality will direct your choices as to what you eat and when; as to how intensely you train and how consistent you are…

Conversely, when we constantly succumb to momentary urges, we unwittingly practice and reinforce emotional self-indulgences; and we reduce our ability to attain our weightloss, health and strength goals.

Reinforcement:

The good news is that as you become more practiced in the discipline of delaying gratification, the process of making rational, self-controlled decisions becomes progressively easier! It is almost as if your brain becomes “fitter” and you build positive momentum! If, for example, you decide not to grab a take-away pizza for dinner, but instead choose to eat vegetables and lean chicken, neural connections bind the thought with the sensation of being correct. The attachments between a particular thought and the brain’s decision that this is the “right” decision are increasingly reinforced each time you make the “right” decision.

Interestingly, this cognitive tool has widespread implications and far-reaching benefits way beyond those of diet and exercise: Not only will you be able to lose those last few kilos of fat, but you’ll cultivate the determination to hang in with the burning agony of OBLA (Onset of Blood Lactate Accumulation) when racing at your max to win! You’ll cultivate the urge to not succumb to that chocolate cake, to not stay in bed snoozing when you should be up training, to not react impulsively to a bad driver, to not verbalising an unhelpful response, to doing one more repetition, to “going the extra mile”, to arriving early and staying late etc etc. Once you start “training” yourself in delayed gratification, you’ll notice the amazing effects translating into virtually every aspect of your life. The ramifications are mind-blowing! Do it! You’ll see for yourself.

Are you lost in a world of “instant gratification”? Take a moment to consider that question…Think about how much it is eroding your efforts to cut fat, to win a race, to be the best you can be in every area of your life…. Delaying gratification is the approach that brings us the most success in virtually every venture or endeavour. It is the means to achieve our greatest pleasure!

“When you reach deep inside, there’d better be something to grab” – Source Unknown