Great Inspiration!

Delay Your Gratification

Delayed gratification helps students make good grades in school, makes possible sexual purity in adolescence, and results in worthy careers as young adults.

Delayed gratification happens when we pay now to play later.

Self-control is at the heart of this quality. Because of that, this is a quality that can be taught.

When parents teach their children that they have to wait for something they want, he says, their children learn a valuable lesson.

“Always do right. This will gratify some people,  and astonish the rest.” – Mark Twain

There is a time for delay and a time to enjoy.

Children who delayed their gratification for a greater reward in the future emerge later as having far more positive character qualities. They were better adjusted, demonstrated more self-confidence, had wider vocabularies, scored higher on aptitude tests, built better relationships and eventually secured better jobs than the children who could not put off their desire for immediate marshmallow to receive two marshmallows a moment later.

You can find dozens of ways to help your child learn to delay gratification. Some involve managing money, some focus on schoolwork, some revolve around doing chores. We’ll leave it to you to discover some of the best arenas for this in your home.

1.       Underscore the value of delay.

2.       Keep your word. – Likewise, your children will not be able to ignore the benefits of delayed gratification as they see you keeping your word when you could have taken an easier way out.

3.       Model delayed gratification in little arenas.

4.       Keep your part of the bargain. – If as a parent you promise your child a bigger reward later for enduring something now, you must deliver the reward.

Unless children learn that it is worth waiting, they won’t do it. So be careful what you promise, and always keep your word. By the way, the reward should be something your child truly wants, not something you think he or she should want.