Blog | Entrepreneurship

Not So Instant Gratification

You wouldn’t have the ability to dream your ideal life if you couldn’t live it

Resistance is the number one thing that stops us from accomplishing our dreams. It’s not the economy, or competition, or lack of ambition. No, I believe the greatest obstacle we face is our own resistance.

If you recall from my last post, the only thing that will defeat resistance is taking action. Robert recently wrote a great post on the characteristics that all entrepreneurs require. You can read it here.

But many of the things he discussed aren’t exclusive to entrepreneurs. We are going to discuss a few of them today.

In order for there to be a battle for resistance, however, resistance needs something to fight. That is where your vision comes in.

Little Vision Mastery

Think about it this way, you wouldn't be able to see the future if you were never meant to create it.

Many years ago, my son had an amazing coach, Joe Zemaitis. He was a world-class triathlete and by all accounts he was a very driven individual.

One of the rules Joe lived by was posted above his bed. It read, “Most people fail rather than succeed because they give up what they really want for what they want at the moment.”

We all know people who get up hours before everyone else and accomplish more than the rest of us do the entire day. That was Joe.

Whether it was a 100-mile bike ride or an eye-opening swim in freezing water, Joe knew that while he was sleeping, somewhere in the world his competition wasn’t.

There’s nothing routine about your dreams

But internal motivation alone wasn’t enough for Joe to become a world-class athlete.

It was being consistent. It was forming a routine.

All of us have a routine. The question you need to ask yourself is whether or not it’s the routine you want to be following.

By repeatedly putting in too many hours at the office, logging too many hours in front of the television, or racking up too many hours socializing with friends at the bar, you’re conditioning resistance toward building the life you truly desire. That constant repetition day after day, weekend after weekend slowly replaces that vision you have about what you want in the future with the increased value you place on that in-the-moment experience.

You begin to value how you feel now instead of how you know you will feel in the future.

How do we let this happen to ourselves? Why do we self-sabotage our own lives?

It’s your little voice calling again. “You deserve to feel good now, you’ll have plenty of time to do that tomorrow, and besides… you’re probably not able to pull it off anyway.”

The Mercedes

I heard a story once about a man named Fred. He was the owner of several weight loss companies in America.

He once had a client who was suffering from severe health problems related to her obesity. He tried everything he could to get her to understand just how serious her problems were and would continue to be if she didn’t make serious changes.

When he would explain all the benefits she would receive, she would always say that the $450 investment was “too expensive.”

One day, he was speaking with her. He noticed a Mercedes outside and asked her if she would like to have it.

“Of course, but...” she exclaimed.

Fred cut her off and asked her how much she thought it was worth. She replied about $90,000. He told her she was close and replied by asking her, “If I told you that you could have that car $6,000, would you buy it?”

“In a heartbeat!”

Looking her straight in the eye he replied, “You would pay $6,000 to drive off in that hot Mercedes right now, but wouldn’t pay $450 to get your life back. Is that what you’re telling me?”

It goes without saying, she purchased the program and got her life back on track.

Fred knew, as we all do, that instant gratification is the king of all motivators.

It all begins with your self-esteem.

We all do it.

Take the time, right now, to step outside yourself, view yourself objectively and think about where your self-worth is. Is it high? Is it low? If it’s low, why is it? When you realize why it’s low, you’ll discover what’s causing the resistance. You’ll be at the first stage of winning the game. You’re starting to manage your little voice.

Do you need to learn more about conquering your resistance, grab a copy of my book, Little Voice Mastery.