On the one hand, most people that I have asked say that they would like to "have" more self-discipline, as if it were a quality that by some divine whim is or is not genetically bestowed on an individual. We approach that general wish the way we approach the specific desire to lose weight, for example: as a goal that we believe intellectually that we want, but not as one that we have internalized to the degree that we have seriously begun to work toward it.
Our increasingly short-term mentality reflects a growing national pessimism. We would rather take the happiness we can get now because, consciously or not, we're not sure it will be there for the taking in the long term. In May of 1975, the personal saving rate in the United States was 14.6 per cent. By April of 2008 (prior to the impact of the Financial Crisis of 2007), it had fallen to 0.8 per cent[1]. As we drifted away from our historic future orientation, I don't believe that it's a coincidence that the body weight of the typical American increased dramatically during that same time period[2]. We have become a nation of undisciplined gluttons, with no appreciation for the value of long-term gratification. A nation of children, regressing rather than maturing, hoping and even expecting that things will somehow work out. Or not. Whatever.
We made charge-card purchases when we didn't have the cash. We bought homes with balloon mortgages. We elected leaders who borrowed unprecedented sums from our own children and grandchildren in order to finance wild spending sprees, and we ran our households the same way, as if tomorrow would never come. The apparent diminished optimism responsible for this short-sightedness is unfortunate, because short-term gratification means less gratification.
As we compete for limited jobs, even the modest goal of making a living is a greater challenge than it has been in decades. And beyond that, the more ambitious a goal, the more difficult it is to attain, obviously. If a particular goal were easy, everyone would have attained it, making it by definition: not an ambitious goal. The ordinary individual aspires to extraordinary achievements. Only the results are typically ordinary, not the original dream. What went wrong?
I assume that, as a reasonably normal individual, your goals are not ordinary. For that reason, they aren't going to be easy to attain. The easy approach that we've been taking isn't going to get you where you want to be. This is going to be tough. It's going to take self-discipline.
If little labour, little are our gains:
Man's fortunes are according to his pains.[3]
The "no pain, no gain" mentality is what makes champions of athletes and bodybuilders. "Feel the burn!" Kenyan runners racing in Europe and the United States sometimes return to East Africa mid-season because the soft lifestyle here causes them to gain weight. From my experience, when it's time to make a decision about what task to tackle next, or about a strategy, or at any figurative fork in the road, the more difficult path has almost always yielded superior results. When I've taken the easy path or made an undisciplined choice, things generally turned out poorly, to the degree that I wished I could return for a do-over. But there aren't many second chances. Read about Bill Gates' path to success. Read Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000-hour rule[4]. Take a class rather than study on your own. Walk rather than ride. And while you're at it, think rather than listen to your iPod!
Remember: Short-term gratification means less gratification. Long-term gratification means more gratification. Do it because you want more!
1U.S. Department of Commerce: Bureau of Economic Analysis
2Ogden CL, Fryar CD,Carroll MD, Flegal KM. Mean bodyweight,height,and body mass index, United States 1960–2002. Advance data from vital and health statistics; no347. Hyattsville, Maryland: National Center for Health Statistics.2004. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/ad/ad347.pdf
3 Herrick, Robert; Alfred Pollardi, ed. (1898). The Hesperides & Noble Numbers: Vol. 1 and 2. London: Lawrence & Bullen. Vol. 2, 66 & 320.
4 Outliers - Malcolm Gladwell (Amazon)
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