Growth Archives - The Future Mindset

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Every day we make thousands of choices. Some are conscious desions but most are subconscious habits we have formed over the years that are either helping us move forward or holding us back. The hidden cost is real. You just have to look closer.

I have investigated my own hidden costs and came to realise there are some eye-opening hidden costs that I make each day without relising. It comes from many different areas of your life. It can be eating that sugary sweet pudding or watching that extra episode of your favourite show. The hidden cost is there from health to time focussing more meaningful projects.

Now eating a chocolate bar or watching Netflix now and then isn’t going to cost you much. But you overeat and or binge-watch on a daily basis then you are going to see hidden costs of this action start to affect your health and growth.

How you can find yourself in this position for example overeating is because at the moment you are not seeing the consequences of your actions just the feeling you getting in that moment. As the weight piles on it can take an outside voice to notice how much you have changed for you to realise the cost of you eating unhealthy for so long.

That’s why it’s important to be conscious and self -aware of your desions your making each day and what hidden cost your happy to accept and which ones you have to avoid at all cost.

The Iceberg Factor

You are probably very familiar with the iceberg picture where underneath you see all the choices someone has to make to reach the top that no one sees. Then at the top is all the success that everyone sees. This applies to your life. underneath the iceberg is all the decisions you have ever made and at the top is what everyone sees.

Your life is either in a place you want and is happy or you are in a place you don’t want to be and are unhappy. The reality is this is based on the choices you make each day and every choice you make will have a cost.

I too have looked at my life and on reflection have not been happy with the outcome. This has come down to two things, comfort and fear.

Making Decisions From A Place Of Comfort And Fear

When we make decisions from a place of comfort and fear we are more likely to get outcomes we won’t like.

If we always choose the easy road out of comfort we will always receive nothing of value back. The hidden cost will be regret of time wasted, financial scarcity and unhappiness in the long term by the short term decisions at the moment that are made.

The seconds desions making tool people will find a huge hidden cost is making choices out of fear. A fear that I need to take this job or I won’t get another chance, a fear I have to make this investment or I will miss out. Too many people think that there is not enough to go around. This mentality got its claws into me and it’s actually not true. You will go on Instagram, want a job at Google or join a competitive market and think there is no space for me to join. Where in fact there is always room. There are many examples of this is just take hard work and better choices to unlock the hidden costs of more improved actions to attain the goal.

That’s why when analysing your own hidden costs. Eliminating comfort and fear-based habits and choices from your life will clear the way for the life you want.

Be Clear On What You Want

Before you find out what hidden costs in your own life is holding you back. First, you have to create a clear picture of the future you want to have. If it’s open up a bar on a beachfront compared to creating the next Tesla or Amazon it’s going to take completely different strategies and more rigorous discipline for the latter.

So spend time creating your vision. Then you can get to work on what you need to do. In order to reap the benefits from choices, you will have to make.

Steps To Analysing Your Own Hidden Costs

Step 1 – Review your Hidden Cost

Alongside your vision and goals, you have set yourself. Start to analyse all the choices you make in your life that would stop you from achieving your goals.

For example, if you want a six-pack body, eliminating excess sugar from your diet is a hidden cost you will have to eliminate.

I would go for the big ones first when looking at your hidden costs. The habits in your life that would make a huge difference in your life if you eliminate them.

Step 2 – Keep And Create Winning Habits

After finding all the hidden costs that will affect the attainment of your goals. Now it’s time for the exciting part of looking and creating new habits that will help you achieve your goals.

So first analyse the habits you have. If the goal is to become a millionaire by 40. You can see already you have a good habit of investing in an index fund. The drawback is this will make you a millionaire by 60. Creating a new habit of investing more each month will help you to retire at 40.

Finding already good habits and creating new ones is the dream ticket to attain the goals you have set for yourself.

To Conclude

Every choice you make will have a hidden cost. The trick is finding the cost that helps you reach your goals. Too many people go through life making bad decisions and wonder why there are not achieving their goals. Don’t be like them. Make the changes needed by getting rid of habits that hold you back. Then create new ones that will help you succeed.

Please don’t forget to like, share and comment It means a lot to know if this has resonated with you.

A Final Word From The Future Mindset

I hope you enjoyed today’s article The Hidden Cost From The Choices We Make Each Day. I hope the article has helped in some way.

If you want to take your mindset to the next level. How about scheduling a 30-min discovery session to chat about your current status, results you want, and next steps. Don’t hesitate to contact me at adam@thefuturemindset.com

We are on social media platforms below but we are really excited to announce our weekly newsletter about everything mindset. Sign up below and enjoy the process of building your mental strength.

@thefuturemindset/@futuremindset_

What To Expect?

Do you struggle with delaying gratification? In today’s article, why delaying gratification will lead to future success. We will dig deeper through science to why delaying gratification is so successful and how you can train yourself to improve it too. This is a proven way to gain the success you desire and hopefully, you will come away having a clearer picture of how to implement the strategies yourself.

What Is Delayed Gratification?

Delayed gratification is resisting the urge to accept the reward now. For the hope or known outcome of something better in the future.

It’s the ability to discipline one’s mind. To resist all immediate temptation to build momentum for a more desirable outcome.

Delayed Gratification vs Instant Gratification

Delaying or having instant gratification is the root of self-control. We are taught about gratification from a young age unknowingly with the tails of Adam and Eve about the apple incident.

Showing clearly the result of delay vs instant. By eating the apple Adam was told not to eat. He lost the opportunity for eternal paradise. The instant pleasure of something is great in the moment. But if you know there is something better to be had in the future. It’s worth the wait.

Delaying gratification is always the winning hand. It just takes a lot of self-control to stop yourself from the temptation of the now. This is what leads to divorces from cheating spouses or having debt from gambling all their money instead of putting it in an index fund.

Short term happiness does not always lead to the long term happiness you desire. It’s down to the actions we take every day that dictates what our future will look like.

I too have had these decisions to make when studying for an exam. I had the choice to watch the new episode of The Game Of Thrones or study for my exam.

When I choose the former it led to rubbish grades but when I choose the latter I achieved grades I was proud of and I still got to watch The Game Of Thrones.

The Marshmallow Experiment

The famous experiment first coined from the mind of Walter Mischel who wrote a fascinating book self-titled The Marshmallow Effect show’s how delaying gratification is an important skill to learn for future success.

I first saw the experiment on a BBC show growing up. Where a bunch of children were put into a room with one marshmallow.

They were told if they waited for the person to come back and not eat the marshmallow in front of them they would receive 2 marshmallows.

A simple proposition for adults to wait 15 minutes to receive double their return. However, all parents know a child under the age of 7 waiting 15 minutes is like waiting a lifetime.

It was definitely a fun experiment to watch and very funny seeing the children trying to resist. I then watched the same show but the children were now older.

The children who were able to delay gratification in the experiment. Went on to have more successful lives and were psychologically better adjusted, more dependable persons, more self-motivated, and as high school students scored significantly better with grades.

With the latest study conducted on these exact same participants in 2011, the research has shown that the characteristic has remained with the individuals for life.

This study has clearly shown how gratification works and why it’s a much-needed skill to learn when growing up as a child. The study also found that parents who overcontrol their toddlers risk undermining the development of their children’s self-control skills.

While those who support and encourage autonomy in problem-solving efforts. Are likely to maximize their children’s efforts at delaying gratification.

How To Train Yourself To Delay Gratification

Delaying gratification is simply being disciplined with yourself. Choosing the hard choice that will benefit your future vs the easy choice that will benefit the now. Countless studies have shown. When we delay gratification we always get a better outcome that makes us happier overall.

For example, eating chocolate cake might feel good in the short term but if it goes against your goal of losing weight. It’s not going to benefit you. We all have goals where we want outcomes that will be in our favour. For our mental wellbeing, finances, health, relationships or careers are achieved to a greater standard by delaying gratification specifically in those areas.

That’s Why Delaying Gratification Will Lead To Future Success

How you can achieve the success you want in your life is by following the 3 strategies below

Strategy 1: Think Bigger Picture

When making decisions you have to think bigger than today. You have to put yourself further ahead in your mind. If you keep thinking short term you will always make the mistake of choosing the easy. But when you see your future self. You will know it’s worth the temptation of the now for a better tomorrow.

Strategy 2: Promising Something Small And Then Delivering

Training the delay gratification muscle is important. Just like going to the gym, the muscle needs to be constantly used to see progress. How you can do this is by using the techniques of just starting and one more to go (1% growth). When your mind knows it can achieve something easily. The chances of delaying gratification seem a much simpler prospect and defiantly worth it for your mind. Then repeatedly do this over and over again until your brain says, 1) yes, it’s worth it to wait and 2) yes, I have the capability to do this.

Strategy 3: Keep Track Of Your Progress

Knowing yourself is important for being able to delay gratification. If you set yourself a goal of losing weight but you keep at night time eating snacks. You know it’s going to be difficult to succeed at losing weight.

With this information you can plan ahead by disciplining yourself to not eat anything at night, only have water at night to fill the stomach or exercise in the evening to take your mind away. Coming up with strategies to help you better delay gratification is important to maintain discipline over the long term.

Where To Go Now

I hope you enjoyed today’s article, why delaying gratification will lead to future success. By knowing that delaying gratification is paramount to success and long term happiness. We have to make choices today that will benefit our future self.

By thinking long term you can then plan in the short term. Training and mentally preparing your mind for what’s to come and how easily you can achieve it will help you develop your delaying gratification muscle.

Hi I’m Adam

I’ve spent over 10 years coaching and mentoring people within sport and business. I have many life skills that I have developed and I want to pass these skills on so people can find their best self. I believe it all starts in the mind and I write about valuable tools and strategies to help people grow in this area.