Category Archives: gratification

Procrastination is like a credit card

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“Procrastination is like a credit card: It’s a lot of fun until you get the bill.”

—Christopher Parker, English actor and television presenter

Image from Unsplash by Nubelson Fernandes

With Black Friday and Cyber Monday in our rear view mirrors, and the holidays just around the corner, it’s natural to want to give and get.

With Amazon and other online purchases just clicks away, it can be pretty easy to dig a financial hole deeper that you intend.

Procrastination is like this in that it pays off immediately with that rush of dopamine. We seemingly get all the reward without the downside until that “payment due” notice finds us down the road.

EXERCISE:

Where are you trying to pay down the debt of procrastination in your life?

How would applying the disciplines of doing things now and delayed gratification reward you with even more fun in the future?

You are bigger than your urges

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You are bigger than your urges.

—Calm App Reflection

Image from Unsplash by regularly.eth

How true is today’s statement for you? How often do you seek pleasure and avoid discomfort?

What’s in it for us since delayed gratification is challenging and procrastination seems to pay off immediately?

When we give in to our urges there always seems to be a payoff.

These payoffs perpetuate the cycle of giving in to future urges. Unfortunately, there is often a hidden cost we don’t see until it’s late in the game and coming back is even more difficult.

EXERCISE:

Reflect on the urges you experience throughout a typical day.

Examine both the costs and payoffs associated when you give into these feelings.

How would reevaluating the cost/payoff ratio help you become bigger than many of these urges in the future?

“The gratification comes in the doing, not in the result.”

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“The gratification comes in the doing, not in the result.”

– James Dean, American actor

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Image from Flickr by Terry Madeley

My son, Dan, is a very special person for many reasons. From the time he was a little boy, he was always fascinated by many forms of mechanical and computer related activities. Dan would literally lose himself in the process of building things with K’nex, Legos, and various other objects or building kits.

He even wrote, illustrated, and self-published his first animal book at age 5. In high school, Dan participated in the robotic club and in college, he was a member of the programming and video game design club, where he would sometimes work 48 hours straight over a weekend to help create a new game.

Today, Dan is a top computer programmer working for one of the most respected health care software development firms in the world.

His vocational and even some avocational software design and programming efforts bring Dan great gratification in the “doing.” This has been and continues to be his passion.

Exercise:

What vocational and avocational activities bring you the greatest gratification and satisfaction in the “doing”, not simply in the result?

How can you do even more of these activities to enhance your professional and personal life?