Remove this One Block to Prepare for 2025

Are You Being Robbed?

The craving for instant gratification is growing, and it is robbing people of fulfilling dreams, promises, inspired visions, and meaningful accomplishments.

To prepare for 2025 remove this one block: The addiction to instant gratification.

The question is: What triggers your instant gratification craving?

The digital world has made getting what you want easy and immediate. All of us struggle with instant gratification. Even as much as I limit my screen use, I fall victim to the siren’s call, and I’ll bet you do, too. 

My husband loves watching movies and sometimes falls asleep on the sofa as one plays. When I wake up in the early morning hours to make coffee there is usually some random movie or show playing. It triggers my brain instantly. “Oh, I’ve never seen this movie. Glenn Close and Kathy Bates? Hmmm . . . What is it? Let me look it up.” Just a quick search and my curiosity is satisfied.

One morning I found myself 15 minutes into a movie before I shook myself out of the unplanned, hypnotic capture of my attention. The lure of a storyline had sucked me in within the 60 seconds it took to fill my cup with coffee.

I’m more of a read a book, listen to music kind of person, not a watcher of movies and television shows. But, I struggle with looking for a distraction when I’m working on something that is challenging me. 

Everyone’s attention is up for grabs.

You Are a Hot Commodity

It isn’t that these activities are bad. It’s that the inadvertent stealing of your attention becomes habitual. Those habits expand and fill up more and more time. That time results in hours, days, weeks, and months lost to things that don’t add anything meaningful to your life.

Your attention is a commodity and anything on a screen has been developed using the latest research on human psychology to catch and keep yours. Phones and televisions are designed to be addictive by feeding you instant gratification nonstop. Yes! Marketers use research on addiction to create a buffet of products (apps, commercials, phone design, colors, frequency of images, notification sounds, etc.) that make you crave more. You’re taking hits on digital drugs.

Addiction is driven by the brain’s reward system. Your brain has been trained to expect constant dopamine hits. You crave them 24/7, and you struggle when you don’t get them. This is why you find yourself mindlessly scrolling on your phone or commenting on posts that have no consequence on your life whatsoever.

Research conducted by the University of Cambridge found that 70% of participants preferred receiving smaller, more frequent rewards in lieu of larger, delayed ones. Another study found that almost 65% of Americans would rather spend money on things they want now than to save for the future. 

Instant gratification fills voids. The most frequent offender (and the stealer of dreams) is our need to fill every second of the day with entertainment. Screen rewards come in the form of continuous feedback - likes, views, comments, or the next video or movie in the queue that is served up on an autoplay platter.

Be the Observer

Develop the skill of stepping outside yourself and analyzing what you’re doing in the moment. If you’ve been a part of the CONNECT crew long enough, you know that self-awareness is the first step.

I, like you, have specific things that I want to increase in my life and others I want to decrease. I observe and reflect, multiplying the things that bring joy and harmony to my life, and removing or limiting things that impede joy and harmony.

For example, whenever I find myself watching YouTube videos (or random movies) during my creative block I ask myself one simple question: Why am I participating in this right now and is it bringing value to my life? It could be a legitimate reason. Maybe I’m researching a topic. But maybe I’m five videos into my research without any useful information and it’s wasting my time. Maybe I’m avoiding work, because I’m struggling with what I’m writing.

The real super ability is revealed when you stop yourself from doing something before you even engage. If you stop yourself from mindlessly hanging out on social media for two hours and, instead, you work on your business, you’ve won the game.

You possess both these abilities - to question your motives in the moment and to stop your participation altogether. But you must use these abilities to strengthen them.

Put It Into Practice: Think of one behavior you want to increase and the instant gratification behavior that is in opposition to it (i.e., procrastination is a block to completing a project). Be specific. Tell your mind to be aware of times you jump on social media to avoid struggling with a challenge at work or in your business. Your awareness will help you increase what you want and decrease what you don’t.

Remove the Culprit

Here’s a reminder to turn your phone off, place it on “Do Not Disturb,” or banish it to another room while you’re in your productive hours.

I use my technology for work, so I self-monitor (but I still struggle). My phone and laptop are my tools. I use “Do Not Disturb,” and that helps immensely. If I feel myself getting antsy about work, I move to a new location to work (e.g., outside) or get up and move for a few minutes instead of getting off task.

Put It Into Practice: Approach this in small doses until you build up your tolerance to go without technology. My top suggestions are utilizing the “Do Not Disturb” feature and setting the timer for focus blocks. Don’t be surprised if you feel a little cranky when you tell yourself the phone is off limits.

Purposeful Distraction

This may seem an odd one, but allow yourself to be distracted. 

Purposeful distraction is choosing when and for how long you will distract yourself. Wasting time can be like a release valve that helps you decompress. But if you purposefully waste time for 15 minutes, don’t let it turn into hours. Also, use this sparingly. Don’t gravitate towards your phone on every break. It is much healthier and productive to take a walk, get some sun, or exercise.

Put It Into Practice: I suggest working in chunks or blocks of time. Block scheduling has short breaks built in. For example, you may take a 10 minute break after working for an hour. 

Strengthen these abilities and leverage them to get what you want out of life.

Manage Your Mindset

Your mind believes what you reinforce with your thoughts, words, and actions. Removing the instant gratification block is a positive change, not a punishment. Take a quick moment to mentally catalog all the wonderful things you can add to your life with the time you regain. Reflect on them often.

Your time is finite. Make the most of it. Live your life intentionally and on your terms.

Sending you all Peace, Love, and Harmony!

Do You Need Help Tapping Into Your Potential?

Are you struggling to meet your goals and wish you had support? Have you ever considered working with a coach? You may not know what a coach does.

One-on-One Coaching:

• You and I develop an individualized plan targeting your specific goals

• You receive individualized support from me

• Answers to your specific questions

• Guidance on your specific issues and blocks

• Accessibility to me outside coaching sessions for added support (individual texts and emails to check in)

• Your plan leads to learning how your personal growth is in your control

Are you ready to take action but are at a loss on what step to take next? 

I can teach you how to get started and accelerate your growth by using repeatable methods. Need the tools? I’ve got them. The goal is always to make you independent. I should be working myself out of a job. Once you take off, you may want to have a session from time to time, especially if you are scaling your goals. A good coach teaches you how to stand on your own two feet. Contact me today. Are you ready to CONNECT?