When faced with the possibility of an instant gratification, think about the reward from your long-term goal first. It tricks your mind, making it easier to stay disciplined.

If you find you’re assuring yourself you’ll start as soon as you feel like doing it, revisit your goals. Self-discipline depends on your motivation. With no motivation, there’s little to no self-control – no matter how disciplined you otherwise are.

If you find yourself constantly procrastinating, chances are it’s not the right goal for you. Let’s say your original reason to lose weight was to make others jealous of your new body. If you find yourself constantly postponing the day of introducing new eating habits, perhaps it was the wrong reason. In general, a powerful, encouraging goal is based on an internal motivation. You’ll get much more drive from your internal need to become a better person than from trying to please someone, make someone jealous or enjoy other trivial external benefits of reaching your goal (men working out to attract women, women losing weight to seduce men).

While there’s nothing wrong with making a trivial motivation a part of your “why,” your main reason for changes should come from within you (your own desire to become healthier, stronger, richer, etc.). Research conducted in an academic context of motivation36 suggests that intrinsic personal goals (health, personal growth, affiliation, community contribution) increase both the short-term and long-term persistence of learning than extrinsic personal goals (fame, physical appearance, financial success). Come up with a strong “why” that will keep you going when the first rush of motivation goes away, replaced by the hard reality where success requires stick-to-itiveness..

When faced with the possibility of an instant gratification, think about the reward from your long-term goal first. It tricks your mind, making it easier to stay disciplined.

Please refer to the book for more details on this activity.