Sacrifice and Delayed Gratification are the Name of the Game

There’s one-click ordering. There’s food delivery in 30 minutes or less. There’s credit available with the swipe of a card.

More so than any time in history, we have forgotten the art of sacrifice.

Can you blame us? Mainstream marketing tells us hundreds of times each day that we should have it all, and that we should have it right now.

The problem with this have-it-all-right-now mindset is that real accomplishments require sacrifice and delayed gratification. And these real accomplishments are where true satisfaction is found.

Think about it for a moment. When was the last time that you felt proud of something that you’ve done? I doubt that it was for the shoe purchase that you just one-click ordered online  More likely it was for a big project that you tackled at work, or a meal that you cooked for your family, or an 8K (or marathon!) that you finished.

Those proud moments have one thing in common: they all required sacrifice and delayed gratification. You gave up your time, you invested your attention and efforts, you put in the miles.

And then you achieved your goal and experienced that sweet satisfaction.

Learning how to sacrifice and delay gratification, rather than getting something right now, is a skill set. This skill set can grow as you use it more often. Just like a muscle that becomes stronger under resistance, your ability to sacrifice your immediate needs in favor of a larger accomplishment will improve the more you use it.

Sacrifice and delayed gratification are the name of the game when it comes to getting into great shape. Get comfortable with sacrifice and you’ll achieve any goal.

I know that’s not what any of us want to hear. We’d prefer the one-click-to-dream-body button over months of a controlled diet plan and challenging workouts. But by embracing and enhancing your ability to sacrifice you’ll gain traction on all of your big life goals, including getting that dream body.

Keep on keep\’n on!

Shortcuts to Make it Easier

Yes, making big changes in your body takes sacrifice and delayed gratification. And, yes, this is hard and is why most people give up and never achieve their goals.

You can make things easier on yourself, and increase your chance of success, by planning ahead to reduce moment-to-moment decisions.

Meal Prep: Preparing your meals ahead of time is one of the best ways that you can make sure to stay on track with your healthy eating. It completely takes away the need to think about what you’re going to eat and ensures that your nutrition will stay on track.

Lay Your Clothes Out: Putting your workout clothes in a neat stack next to your bed before you go to sleep each night makes getting up early to exercise easier. It’s one less thing that you’ll have to do in the morning when your alarm goes off and will make you more likely to follow through with getting up and getting to the gym.

Build in Accountability: You’re not going to feel like working out every day. That’s a given! So, build in accountability. You won’t want to let someone else down by not showing up more than you don’t want to exercise, and you’ll end up making it happen.