Overcoming Instant Gratification

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What is Instant Gratification?

Instant gratification is the feeling you get when with minimal effort you get a satisfying reward. 

What challenges does this pose?

Now days it is common to get addicted to these fleeting momentary pleasures.  For example with instant gratification, we feel much happier before we actually receive our desired outcome. 

On top of that with the increase of consumerism and social media people are increasingly impatient these days. Many are unwilling to sit through a video that doesn’t start after a mere 3 second wait!

Why does this matter?

The things that we want to achieve in our life aren’t typically conquered unless we do the boring and hard work first. Whether we want to train to be a A+ student, a musical artist, or even the next big UFC star, this will take a great deal of time!

To achieve our goals sometimes we won’t see progress for months, which makes for a disheartening feeling when we start to work towards our dreams. Couple that with our increased desire to achieve instant results these days, it seems we are being incentivized less and less to work towards our ambitions. 

How Mike Paolini overcame the “one more click” effect?

Mike Paolini is a real estate agent. The profession has been very unforgiving especially these days. He started his career during a recession, pandemic, and a lockdown to make things worse. Not to mention he only get’s paid commission. Typically, realtors close deals once a month to once a quarter (or even less) making instant gratification a rare thing to come by especially during times of unpredictability and chaos.

So how did Mike stay focused and how did he prosper despite having all the cards stacked against him?

Here are some very actionable tips from Mike’s episode all about how he overcame instant gratification to achieve success:

1) He focuses on little wins – Rather than looking at the big wins of making the sale which can take months, he focuses on little wins everyday i.e. like a great conversation with a client or hearing back from a couple who wants to have another chat. He focuses on the little things that can eventually lead to some meaningful successes.

2) He uses affirmations – like “My success is inevitable or “my growth is undeniable”. If you work consistently and are committed, you are bound to grow even if it feels just a marginal growth sometimes.

***Did you know there is a study that suggests regardless if you donate $100,000 or $25 you have the same level of satisfaction or happiness? This is why focusing on the little wins work to keep you on track!***

3) Journaling –Mike journals and sets his goals quarterly. He uses the “High Performance Strategic Journal” methodology (you can buy the journal here). Below are the tidbits Mike shared about the journal he uses:

• First start off with what your grateful for – which instantly changes your attitude
• Then you go into daily goals – this keeps you aligned throughout the day to meet your dreams
• Measure your targets – These are numeric values that align with your daily goals to give you activity’s to meet your goals
• End of day gratitude list – End your day on a positive note. Didn’t achieve your goals? Think about the progress did you make instead.
• Lesson’s learned today – Helps you focus on what to improve on so your “growth will be undeniable”! Catch my drift?

4)Achieve some of your daily goals by 11 AM or at least start them before 11 AM. Mike recalls a study that shows if you do not start your goals by 11 AM, the chances of completing your goals go down drastically.

5) Have an accountability partner or group – This will keep you focused by finding like minded people who can motivate you when instant gratification is driving you towards unfruitful activity.

6)Positive re-enforcement – Use logical statements that are conceivable yet realistically positive. Exactly like an affirmation but less over the top. Is it conceivable that you can achieve this goal? Is it really impossible? Have other people achieved this goal? If it can be done even if it is a small percentage why not work towards this goal if it’s your dream.

7) Mike uses visualization – To put his mind in a space where he can see the possibilities that he has yet to experience. This helps him feel instantly gratified on some level while working towards his goals!

***Use all of these tips and tricks together – when you pair some or all of these together it compounds from Mike’s experience!***