Why Delayed Gratification is the Key to Success [2025]

You may or may not know what delayed gratification is, that’s okay, I didn’t really hear about it until a few years ago and I think it needs to be talked about more. If you are the kind of person that struggles to achieve your goals, whatever they may be, this just might be what you need to hear!

So delayed gratification, what is it? 

In my own words, it’s the ability to refrain from a reward that is not in alignment with your goals. For example, you’re in the pursuit of getting healthy and more fit but there are donuts in the lunchroom, and you think to yourself “It’s just one donut, it won’t make a difference”, then you go and eat that donut and while it may taste delicious you will probably beat yourself up about it at the same time. Or you could be wanting to better your finances but you go and buy a materialistic item you don’t actually need (We’ve all been there). 

The problem is not one act of impulse, but rather the addiction we have to instant gratification, and no wonder why instant gratification is so hard to ignore, it feeds you that dopamine rush that us humans love so dearly. 

Whether you want to save money (or pay of debt), top snacking (or drinking, because wine…), eating out, hitting snooze too many times, work on yourself as a whole, or spend time on your business rather than going out, we have to stop giving into instant temptations and start learning how to practice delayed gratification. Anyone who has achieved their goals has gone down the same path, once you say yes to one thing, you have to sacrifice another (and yes, that might look like saying no more than your use to).

So let’s get into it…

I’m going to break it down into sections we will be covering so your brain has a better way of organizing all the information I am about to throw at you. 

• Instant vs. delayed gratification 
• The power of patience and consistency for success 
• How to practice delayed gratification 
• How your mind may trick you into instant gratification 
• Next steps 

INSTANT VS. DELAYED GRATIFICATION 

We already kind of went over this in the intro, but as a recap, we humans want that instant dopamine and this conflicts with our goals in the long run. Our society is set up to give into our temptations, look how easy it is now to order dinner from any restaurant to your door. That may go against your goal to get fit or save money, not to mention Amazon and online shopping. It’s just too easy for us to do anything with just our fingertips. 

Resisting the urge to do something that goes against our cravings, health, bank account, personal development is called delayed gratification, instant gratification is just the opposite and we tend to fall for the trap even when we aren’t aware. 

THE POWER OF PATIENCE AND CONSISTENCY FOR SUCCESS 

Ahhhh patience, something as a mother I should have, but it has been a struggle of mine. I have made some mistakes and bad decisions in the past because I didn’t have the patience to give it much thought or do the research. For example, buying a brand new car off the lot. I am not ashamed to say this is one of my biggest regrets and financial decisions of my life. What a great way to put yourself in debt for a long time, anyways that is for another conversation…. 

Anything worthwhile in your life will take time, building the body and life of your dreams is a life’s journey of purpose. I struggled for a long time to achieve anything because I would start and quit, start and quit and so on. If you think about it, it’s impossible to fail unless you quit, that’s why staying consistent at your goals will yield your future self. There are so many books and research done on consistency and achieving your dreams. This is where delayed gratification comes in, if you are able to push through that uncomfortability you get when part of you is saying yes and then part of you knows this is going against what you need to do to achieve success, you will be unstoppable. 

Delayed gratification is about the consistency of saying no to your temptations and cravings. I’m not saying you have to say no for the rest of your life, or never eat that chocolate, drink that wine, splurge or treat yourself to something, however, you do need to build up that mental capacity for delayed gratification and then consistency will follow. 

HOW TO PRACTICE DELAYED GRATIFICATION 

So here we are, as you have read this post you may have been thinking of some of your own patterns when it comes to being a victim of instant gratification. And that is where we want to start, you need to be aware of your habits and how your need for instant gratification is holding you back. Let’s dive into how you can practice delayed gratification in your everyday life. 

Step 1 – Be aware and understand your patterns 

It helps to make a list of things that you are giving into that are keeping you from becoming your future self, BECOMING HER. For me, I struggled with spending on things I didn’t need, snacking too much during the day, and drinking wine when I knew it was only making my situation worse. Now that you have written down your list you will have to start saying NO to these things forever (JKJK). Once you are aware of your instant gratification habits and you know what you need to start changing you can move on to the next step.

Step 2 – Get clear on what you will have to do and set a deadline

Once you have an idea of what is holding you back you will need to make some rules for yourself to follow to stay on track. For example, I will only eat 1-2 sweet treats every week if I workout 4x per week or, I can spend $100 on myself after 3 months of saving. Make sure you have a deadline so you are able to measure your success at the end. Once you set your goals and you are clear on the steps you need to take to get there, it’s time to go all in and do what you set out to do. 

The actual doing of the thing is what people find the hardest and most often it’s the time where people quit, this is where you will rely heavily on your mindset. The days might be long and you might be tired of repeating the same thing everyday and even get bored. This is where the success lies, if you can stay consistent you will find success.

Step 3 – Measure your success and repeat

You will simply measure you success by reflecting weekly or monthly and determining if you actually are doing what you set out to do. The whole point of practicing delayed gratification is so it will be ingrained in your life and it will become easy for you. Once you see the benefit of delayed gratification after seeing your goals and success slowly happening, a mindset shift will naturally begin. You will start to believe that waiting and resisting temptations is the key to your success once it proves itself in your life. 

In simple terms to start practicing now, you first need to figure out what habits you have that give you instant gratification and are counterproductive against your goals. Once you set that down, you will make a plan for your goal, execute, measure and repeat. It may help to keep a journal so you can keep track of your progress.

HOW YOUR MIND MAY TRICK YOU INTO INSTANT GRATIFICATION 

You mind find it hard at first and even slip up more than a few times and that is the normal process when you’re training your brain to do something differently. Think about it as unlearning bad habits, you will probably feel discomfort and even deprived at times. This is the time you will want to be the strongest because that is where the reward lies, on the other side of the discomfort. 

Once you start feeling the discomfort, if you pay attention to your thoughts, you will notice that you will probably be trying to convince yourself that it’s not a big deal and you can start over. This is where most people fail, if you can’t push past the desire for instant gratification you won’t make it to the other side of achieving the success that you had set out to do. That leads to negative self-talk, and a perpetual cycle of trying and failing and eventually you will reach a point where you don’t believe in yourself and you create a negative narrative about your abilities. 

The faster you are aware of your thoughts when you are leaning towards instant gratification and you can see them for what they are, your body trying to pull you out of that uncomfortable feeling. You will find it easy to avoid any temptations around you. Pay attention to what you’re feeling and thinking and change the narrative by taking control. Any easy way to do this is when you notice them pop up, respond back with a fun witty response. You can even name your negative ego and say, “No, Barb, you’re the reason we are broke, unfit, depressed and unhealthy, the F I’m listening to you again”. Just a fun way of doing it anyways, and it will help you catch those thoughts and feelings when they arise. 

SO WHAT NOW???

At some point in life you have to apply what you learn to the positive change in your life, that is one of those times now. Instant gratification is holding you back from succeeding at your goals and that is why the key to success is delayed gratification. Train yourself to say no when you need to and stay consistent with it, you will wish you had done it sooner. 

Really all you need to do is keep resisting your impulses and that is how you will succeed at anything you do. Once you do it for a long period of time you will no longer be the person that lives for instant gratification. You will have become a different, far better version of yourself that you ever thought you could be.