The Benefits of Delaying Gratification.
Many years ago, there existed an option for people who wanted to purchase significant items that doesn’t exist anymore in a similar form. It was a service that most major stores (especially department stores) offered and was called “Layaway.” What it involved was having a store take an item someone wanted to purchase, but couldn’t fully afford at the time, and remove it from the sales floor, place it in the back storeroom, and complete a contract that allowed the purchaser to make payments over time until the item was paid for in full. The item never left the store until it was fully paid for. The best part of this option was the excitement that occurred with each payment that was made that moved a person one step closer to actually owning the item. Those days are long gone.
The layaway option seemed to fade away when credit cards and seller financing entered the scene. Credit cards allowed people to buy an item and pay off the balance over time. The biggest advantage was that they were able to take the item home that very same day even though they hadn’t fully paid for it. And the stores loved this method because they had become bogged down with administrative and warehouse costs associated with layaway and credit cards eliminated those costs. A huge disadvantage was the amount of debt that credit cards have people taking on and the exorbitant (actual) amount of money someone ends up paying for an item just so they could have it now. That’s sad.
It’s also true that many consumers continue to prefer the convenience and immediacy of credit purchases. The instant gratification of taking an item home right away is often more appealing than waiting until it's fully paid off. And we have become an instant gratification society. If a local store is out of an item and offers to order it for you and have it here in five days for you to pick up, well, most people decline the offer knowing they can order it online and have it tomorrow. We hate to wait! Which begs the question: What ever happened to the value of Anticipation?
Carly Simon wrote a song in 1971 entitled “Anticipation.” The story is that Simon wrote the song on the guitar in 15 minutes, as she awaited Cat Stevens to pick her up for a date. The lyrics express what she was anticipating their date would turn out to be like and the excitement of not knowing but eventually finding out. History suggests that the anticipation she experienced was better than the date itself. Lesson? Maybe it’s that delaying gratification provides a level of excitement that instant gratification speeds right by.
I equate the delayed gratification excitement level to the two weeks that proceed Christmas when you’re a kid. I came to realize that the two weeks of anticipation as to what Santa would bring was valued so much more than the five minutes it took to rip into the presents and find out what was in them. The power of anticipation is what created the dreams of what might occur. This is the same for any dating couple that has both people believing that soon they’ll be engaged. It’s such a special feeling of anticipation that changes as soon as the proposal occurs. The actual receipt of what you were hoping for means an end to the hope and anticipation you experienced leading up to it. That’s NOT a bad thing, it’s just different.
Many people delay gratification on a wide variety of things but probably haven’t thought of it the way I’ve described it in this article. Examples? Planning a trip that won’t occur for several months. Planning a wedding. Utilizing a budget to purchase a vehicle, large appliance, massive screen television, or saving up to put a down payment on a home. Summoning the courage to ask someone out on a date. Planning for retirement. Any type of investing. Anticipating game day if you’re on any kind of a sports team. Those clothes you’ll be able to fit into when you reach your exercise and weight-loss goals.
The biggest point I’m attempting to make is that maybe we shouldn’t always be in such a hurry to satisfy our immediate desires. When we allow ourselves instant gratification by getting something now, we miss the excitement associated with the anticipation that delaying gratification offers. Delayed gratification is more powerful and lasts much longer than immediate gratification. When is delaying worthwhile? Back in the 70’s, a ketchup company received loads of complaints about how hard it was to get their ketchup out of the bottle and onto the food someone wanted to eat. People loved the ketchup but hated how long it took. So, the company played the song “Anticipation” in their commercials convincing consumers that THEIR ketchup was worth the wait and that’s what made it a better value compared to all the others. Some things are just worth waiting for and provide more value when you delay.
The goal here is that the next time you allow your “impatience mindset” to command instant gratification, be willing to pause long enough to consider the value of delaying your gratification. Think about the excitement you might miss out on and think your decision through just one more time. You might find great personal value (and more excitement) in all the decisions you make from this day forward. Remember, delayed gratification is more powerful and lasts much longer than immediate gratification. Delaying can provide so much more value to our lives. Hey…I Believe In YOU! GiddyUp!