We are primed for instant gratification

Humans have evolved to put more value in the current moment than in the future. We want happiness, success, pleasure, etc. now. We want to avoid pain, discomfort, and struggle.

This makes sense on many levels and helped the earliest humans. But in today’s world, this leads us to make poor decisions.

In Atomic Habits, James Clear explains, “Behavioral economists refer to this tendency as time inconsistency. That is, the way your brain evaluates rewards is inconsistent across time. You value the present more than the future. Usually, this tendency serves us well. A reward that is certain right now is typically worth more than one that is merely possible in the future. But occasionally, our bias toward instant gratification causes problems.”

I would expand on that and say that many of the most successful individuals have been able to shift their valuation of time. They put more into the future. They invest. They save. They work hard for a future goal.

If you struggle hitting goals, don’t get too stressed. This is a normal part of the human experience. The reason is likely due to the time inconsistency.

But we have to learn how to get around that to succeed. If this is difficult for you, then focus on your small habits. Focus on building better structures around you. Evaluate the systems around your missed goal.

That will start to clue you in to the best way to proceed. You can adjust the systems to provide a better chance at future success.

We can stop measuring success by now and measure it by looking at later. Instead of looking at what we have at this moment, measure the progress you make.

As you make progress in a new direction, rewards won’t be visible. It isn’t until you have done the new action many times before the rewards surface.

The systems and habits approach to improvement focuses on the small behavior changes. It values that over the immediate feelings of gratification. Those can be deceiving and lead you towards behavior that is pleasant now but destructive in the future.

Successful people understand the value of the future. They understand how to leverage their time to have maximum success at a later time.

You can use the same techniques and shift your focus. This will unlock new areas to improve. Instead of feeling as though you keep missing your goals, you will start to realize what it takes to hit those goals. And you will be able to implement the right strategies.

Without the systems and habits approach to improvement you would have to learn how to shut off that part of our brains that values now over the future.

Instead rework the systems and habits around you to provide the most future value for your efforts. By shifting to a focus on the future, you gain an advantage over everyone who simply wants it now. By waiting, you will be able to gain much more success down the road.