Go read the comments of my previous posts and you’ll see a bunch of instant gratification addicted men making excuses...

“I play video games and smoke weed everyday but I’m really really disciplined I promise!”

“I eat sweeties all the time but OP it’s you who doesn’t have willpower”

“OP exercises for 90 minutes a day!!!!! Guys don’t do that, you’ll literally die if you workout that much!”

These are real comments you can go and read. What happened to the men of this subreddit? What happened to everyone? Why have we become the most addicted generation ever?

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The issue:

All technological advancements aim to bring gratification closer to the action.

For a business to achieve this is profound, they will become wildly successful.

For the users, they are happy. Their discomforts have just been reduced.

But for the men who wish to increase their discipline and work on themselves?

It's a tricky spot to be in.

Everything is being made to promote instant gratification and to reduce discomfort.

Uber Eats, OnlyFans, YouTube, Reddit, TikTok, League of Legends...

But discomfort is how we grow.

And to be one of those business owners who achieve this technological advancement, you have to delay gratification.

To build your dream body, you have to delay gratification.

To improve your mental health, get good grades, level up your social skills... you have to delay gratification.

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What’s the difference between instant and delayed gratification?

Instant gratification comes from the easy habits that feel fun and comfortable in the present moment but often lead to long term detriments - Netflix, video games, drugs, social media, fapping.

Delayed gratification comes from the hard habits that feel difficult and uncomfortable in the present moment but often lead to long term positives - Exercise, meditation, school/business work.

The donut today, or 6 pack abs in summer?

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How do you even go about making the right decision when you can’t see the reward of the delayed gratification activity for months?

Discipline.

Discipline is the skill of delaying gratification, even when you don’t feel like it.

Just like any other skill, it can be levelled up.

Imagine that you’re getting 10XP in the Discipline Skill every time you delay gratification.

As your discipline levels up you’ll be able to shrug your shoulders at the easy pleasures that you once struggled avoiding.

But real life is like hard mode - You lose XP overtime!

That means you constantly have to be levelling up your Discipline Skill. You have to set yourself challenges relative to your current abilities (Important! A worthwhile challenge for you may literally be getting out of bed and into clean clothes).

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Enough bro-science. Let's talk real science now:

We indulge in instant gratification because of our amygdala. That's one of the oldest parts of our brains and it's one of the main reasons why we are still alive as a species.

The amygdala is the part of our brain that puts us into a fight or flight mode.

This was insanely useful when the enemy tribe or saber-toothed tiger was attacking, but now?

Not so much.

Many people now have an over-active amygdala which causes anxiety.

Imagine experiencing that fight or flight mode constantly. This leads to overindulging in instant gratification as the 'easy dopamines' comfort that anxiety.

The amygdala doesn't want you losing fat, you might need that energy in case you don't get to eat again for a while. The amygdala doesn't want you going outside to go to the gym because you could get attacked on the way there, so let's just stay inside on the computer all day.

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The prefrontal cortex (PFC) is the new part of our brain that remembers our goals, societies laws and constructs. It's the PFC that tells you not to eat the cake and avoid searching for Instagram models on your phone.

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So our amygdala and our PFC are constantly in an argument with each other.

The words in your mind can come from either part of your brain and this is incredibly tricky.

Your mind can rationalise so damn well and it's only at the end of the day that you realise you fucked up and allowed the amygdala to control you once again.

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Hopefully you're following along, you should be wondering this:

If we could quieten the amygdala and strengthen the prefrontal cortex our ability to delay gratification would skyrocket, is that possible?

You're asking a big question.

Can you literally change the way your brain works? Is there anything that can make the amygdala smaller and the prefrontal cortex bigger?

Yes.

Meditation.

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By reducing the amygdala's activity through consistent meditation you'll literally hear the 'bad' voice in your mind less often.

Even better, when you do inevitably crave instant gratification like porn or junk food, consistent meditation will have you feeling the craving on the next level - Meaning you won't identify with the craving.

You'll go from:

"I want to eat chocolate, I'm going to eat chocolate"

To:

"I'm feeling the sensation of a craving for chocolate, I just started salivating a little more and my heart beat got a little faster. That's so cool"

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Meditation for success:

Tim Ferriss (Author of The 4 Hour Work Week and Tribe of Mentors) interviewed more than 200 top level performers, from billionaires to athletes like Arnold Schwarzenegger...

80% of them had a daily meditation practice.

Meditation was the most consistent habit amongst them all. How insane is that?

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Your ability to delay gratification determines your success and meditation is an incredible help for this pursuit.

This is the video on meditation that I rewatch often, it's incredibly well made and always skyrockets my motivation for the practice: https://youtu.be/aAVPDYhW_nw