By Nyambura Mbugua
There is this demon (for lack of a better word) that possesses me when I have money. It almost convincingly tells me to spend like there’s no tomorrow. Only to wake up the next day and realize not only is tomorrow here, there are many more tomorrows ahead.
I am sure I am not alone in this. And businesses know that. They target those seasons when everyone has money, especially the holiday seasons. Talking of which, Easter is just around the corner. So businesses will put virtually everything on offer.
Just the last Christmas holiday, I had a phone that was struggling to live. It spent more time with the charger than with me. I was up and about, busy minding my own business when my eyes were caught by a brightly coloured billboard screaming ‘Best Phones on Offer!’ Is it just me or when you are thinking of purchasing something is when you see it everywhere, you can just be on Mars strolling and you see a billboard with “Italian Shoes on Sale! Buy Today!” The details on that billboard were more than a bait for my resistance.
So I sauntered into the phone shop. I was hypnotized by the sight of my dream phone. Since I did not have enough money to spend on it, I dug into my savings because, I told myself, ‘if I don’t buy it now when it’s on sale I may never get this opportunity again!’ I was super excited to have it. I spent hours just exploring its features. It even gave me a confidence boost. It was in my palm more than it was in the handbag. Two months later, I no longer call it my new phone. Can you believe I even peeled off the shiny sticker on the screen that I thought would stick for life! Now it’s no longer that smart and I even realized that the front camera doesn’t take very clear pictures. Where am I going with this?
Do you remember the phone you had in 2009? Probably not! Do you remember the trip you went with your friends or family to a new place you had never been to before? Most likely, yes. But to enjoy that experience, or to buy that temptation gadget, shoes, car or piece of furniture, you may need to postpone that nudging desire, and in some instances save up for it. Now that is delayed gratification.
We have become a generation that wants instant gratification. In 1970, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a social experiment famously called the Marshmallow Test. He placed a marshmallow in front of a group of children and gave them a choice: they could eat the marshmallow immediately, or they could wait until he returned from a brief errand and then be rewarded with a second one. If they didn’t wait, they wouldn’t get the second marshmallow. Not surprisingly, once he left the room, many children ate the marshmallow almost immediately. A few of them though, resisted eating the temptation long enough to receive a second one. Mischel termed these children ‘high-delay’ children.
Interestingly, he observed, the children who were best able to delay gratification subsequently did better in school and had fewer behavioral problems than the children who could only resist eating the cookie for a few minutes. This trend continued even in adulthood. As adults, the ‘high-delay’ children completed college at higher rates than their ‘low-delay’ friends and then went on to earn higher incomes. Conversely, the children who succumbed to the temptation recorded higher rates of incarceration as adults, and were more likely to struggle with drug and alcohol addiction.
What is delayed gratification?
- The ability to wait 15 minutes to get two marshmallows instead of one marshmallow now, is delayed gratification.
- The ability to wait to buy something in the future after you’ve saved for it rather than impulsively purchasing something now despite the fact that you don’t have the money to pay for it is delayed gratification.
- The ability to invest money today to have money when you retire is delayed gratification.
This relates directly to our financial discipline. Do your spending habits revolve around pay day? Do you spend more the day before your salary checks in or the day after?
Instant gratification has almost become a lifestyle nowadays, and delayed gratification is old school. It’s for monks. What with the rise of instant messaging, fast foods, delivery services, cab services and all that jazz.
Delayed gratification is the bedrock of financial discipline. Investments are about delayed gratification; the willingness to delay a good reward today for a better reward tomorrow. Delayed gratification helps you stop spending money faster than you can earn it. But to learn delayed gratification, we need to learn how to put our impulses in check. In today’s world of consumerism marketing, there are voices calling you from the billboard, Youtube Ads, social media ads, television, radio ads, and word-of-mouth. This makes you think you want everything today and now! It takes a lot of discipline to ignore all the messages or convince yourself that you don’t need the products or services being advertised even if they are on sale.
How do you learn impulse control?
- Write down your money goals, and hold yourself accountable. Start with realistic goals, otherwise you will get discouraged and quit. Break it down into smaller goals with time frames. Regularly remind yourself of the target.
- Differentiate between your need and your wants. Before every purchase, consider if the item is something you need or something you want.
- Budget your finances and keep track of them
Have you mastered the skill of delayed gratification? Or are you struggling with instant gratification? What tips do you have for impulse control in managing your finances? Share with us on the comments section.