In her battle against a long-standing smoking habit, Mia Thompson was no casual smoker—she was the kind who would light up 40 cigarettes a day, even considering it in the shower. Although she recognized the health risks, each attempt to quit ended in failure. Then, during a conversation with a friend, she impulsively declared, “If I ever smoke again, I’ll donate $5,000 to a cause I despise!” That bold statement marked the end of her smoking days for good.
The Challenge of Willpower
As mentioned earlier, it’s often tough to find motivation when the stakes seem distant. Mia’s struggle illustrates this perfectly; the immediate pleasure of smoking overshadowed the potential long-term consequences, like lung cancer. In the tug-of-war between instant gratification and long-term benefits, the former typically triumphed. However, once she attached a significant, immediate consequence to her actions, the dynamics shifted. The thought of losing money to a cause she opposed made smoking less appealing.
Influencing Your Future Choices
Mia’s experience highlights a powerful technique: influencing how you will behave in the future. By altering the choices available to you and making the repercussions of those choices more immediate, you can set yourself up for success. This concept is known as “precommitment,” a term popularized by Nobel Prize-winning economist Thomas Schelling. In his influential paper, he discusses how individuals can restrict their future options to prevent regretful decisions. For instance, women in labor often request that anesthetics not be offered to them, knowing that pain may lead them to wish for the relief they initially wanted to avoid.
We encounter simple examples of precommitment in daily life, such as asking friends to deny you cigarettes or pledging to avoid unhealthy snacks. Schelling proposes several strategies to help you commit to your goals, including:
- Delegate Control: Hand over your phone or car keys to someone else to avoid temptation.
- Make a Commitment: Pledge money to a trusted friend or, like Mia, to an organization you oppose if you fail to follow through.
- Eliminate Temptations: Don’t keep treats at home if you’re trying to eat healthier, or use apps like Self Control to limit your internet access while focusing on work.
- Seclude Yourself: Have someone take you to a distraction-free location until you complete your tasks.
- Reorganize Your Life: Schedule activities when you are less likely to be tempted by distractions, such as shopping after a meal when you feel full.
What If You Always Followed Through?
These strategies fundamentally change your future decision-making landscape, nudging you toward choices that align with your best interests. For instance, if you want to run regularly, you could plan your runs for the morning when you feel more motivated. Alternatively, you might set a financial penalty for skipping your workout, making the choice clearer.
Your preferred approach will depend on your goals and personal tendencies. Personally, I find the commitment strategy highly effective. I use an app called Beeminder to track various objectives like maintaining a regular running schedule or daily meditation. The financial stakes help keep me accountable, and while methods vary in effectiveness, the principle remains the same: make your future self want what your present self desires.
In conclusion, motivation is essential for tackling any task, especially when the rewards seem far off. To overcome procrastination, it’s crucial to find ways to make the benefits of your actions more immediate. By precommitting to decisions that your future self will appreciate, you can align your actions with your goals.
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Summary: In order to effectively tackle tasks that you keep postponing, it’s essential to find motivation. By making the consequences of your actions immediate and altering the options available to you, you can ensure that your future self is aligned with your current desires.