What options can you get?

Iron will, Strong mind, Average discipline, Living in the moment, Give it to me now

The Marshmallow Test

Do you prefer to spend money immediately or save it for later?

Spend it

Save it

It depends

You're cooking dinner and want to snack, what do you do?

I might snack a tiny bit

I don't snack, I know the ready meal will be even more satisfying

I can't wait till the dinner is ready, I'm choosing to snack

You want to watch another episode of your favorite show, but it's getting late. What do you do?

One more episode won't hurt. But just one!

I start the binge. Two hours of sleep will be enough, right?

I go to sleep. The show will be there another day, but now I have to rest!

What kind of job do you prefer?

A calm, relaxed environment, predictable routine, even if I make less money

High-paced, a lot of things going on, sometimes it's stressful, but I make a good amount of money

What would you do if you failed an exam twice?

I study hard and try for the third time. I'm not a quitter!

I would give up. It's not meant to be

Your alarm clock rings in the morning, but the sheets feel so nice and inviting. What do you do?

I hit the snooze button. Five more minutes!

I hit the alarm and get up. No point in delaying!

I grumble for a second, but I do get out of bed eventually

You feel tired and want to relax by playing a new video game. What do you do?

I go play the game, duh

I go on a run before playing

I play the game, but only for a bit

What is the first thing you do after coming home from work/school?

Sort out laundry, cook dinner, exercise

Plop on the couch with my phone

Your grandma gave you some money. What do you do with it?

I buy myself something small, but I save the rest of the money

I save it all. I'm that much closer to buying that bike I want!

I spend it all on candies and magazines immediately

You have a big test tomorrow, but your friends invite you to go out with them. What do you do?

I don't go out. I might join my friends later if I'm all finished with my studies

I go with them. If I don't know my material by now anyway, I never will!

I decide to go out, but only for an hour

I refuse to go out but am too distracted to study, knowing they're having fun without me

I tell them to have fun, and I sit down to study. I can go out some other time

Do you find it hard to resist scrolling through social media before going to sleep?

I can't imagine going to sleep without a nightly scroll session

It's hard, I get distracted by things on my phone

I find it pretty easy to do

It can be challenging, but I usually prefer to read before bed anyways

Not at all, I put my phone out of my bedroom out of habit

You have to study, but you keep getting distracted by your phone. What do you do?

I put the phone away and start studying, though I might take a peek every once in a while

I get sucked into the world of social media, forgetting about studying

I put my phone in another room and get to studying

You're on a diet, but someone offers you a piece of delicious cake. What do you do?

I might have a moment of hesitation, but ultimately I have no problem with giving up a treat

I hesitate, but in the end, I accept the cake

It will be challenging for me, but I should be able to resist

I refuse the cake without a second thought. I have a goal, and I'm sticking to it!

I eat the cake. To heck with that diet!

Your friend did something that made you upset. How do you react?

I go to cool off before I talk to them

I call them out at once

You see an item in the store you really like, but you would have almost no money left after buying it. What do you do?

I don't buy it

I buy it anyway. I have to have it!

I look for a cheaper version of the product online

What approach to life is the closest to you?

You have to work hard to play hard

Life is short, you have to live in the moment

Is it hard for you to wait for things?

It's very hard

Not at all

A little bit, but it's manageable

It's pretty hard

Would you rather have one tasty snack now or wait a while and have two snacks later?

Depends on how hungry I am

One snack now

Two snacks later

When do you buy Christmas decorations?

I wait until after-Christmas sales to get a discount

In November, it's when everyone thinks about Christmas

How do you behave when browsing at a store?

I buy everything that strikes my fancy

I go off my shopping list

I might indulge a bit, but am careful with my budget

The Marshmallow Test

Iron will

You have a lot of willpower and self-discipline. You have eyes on the prize and know how to resist the temptation!

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Strong mind

You are good with impulse control and know how to deny yourself some things to achieve something even better later.

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Average discipline

It can get tricky for you, but overall you are decent with delayed gratification. Sometimes the temptation gets the better of you!

giphy3

Living in the moment

You're not great when it comes to impulse control. It's just so hard to resist some things! Why should you deny yourself things?

giphy4

Give it to me now

Your motto is "carpe diem". If you want something, you get it immediately. To hell with long-term consequences. Life is short, after all!

giphy5

We all need to resist temptation sometimes, but some of us are better at it than others. A toddler won’t understand the concept of delayed gratification and will stuff their face with candy they see on the table. However, an adult should be able to resist and turn away from sweet delicacies. How good are you at delayed gratification? Take our test and find out!

Before you jump in, let’s find out the definition of delayed gratification. It involves the ability to self-regulate and postpone rewards. It’s being able to wait to get what you want. The interchangeable term for delayed gratification could be self-control or impulse control.

Why do we exercise our willpower to control our impulses? We put off something we want so we can get something else, perhaps something better, in the future. For example, you might deny yourself junk food so you could get fit and wear your old jeans again. Or you could give up a few outings to save up money for a concert.

Food is a good example of delayed gratification in action. It’s hard to resist tasty snacks full of sugar or fat. However, if you desire to lead a healthy lifestyle, you have to learn how to control yourself better. If you want to lose weight, get in better shape, or live longer, practice resisting candy or fast food in favor of more nutritious food.

Physical pleasures are another example. Buying yet another pair of shoes or a new shiny gadget might be nice, but in a long term, saving that money could be more beneficial to you.

This ties in with financial well-being. It’s easy to spend money without a second thought, but it’s not good for your long-term financial stability. If you decide to buy that expensive thing, you will feel good for a while. However, it might lead you to not have any savings later on.

In the 1970s, psychologist Walter Mischel conducted a curious experiment. He placed a treat in front of the children and offered them a choice. They could either eat a treat immediately or wait and later get two snacks.

Many children ate their treats without waiting, but some were able to resist the urge and received their prizes afterward. The psychologist discovered that the kids who waited performed better academically and had fewer behavioral problems than the kids who didn’t wait.

Choosing a long-term benefit over immediate gratification is often challenging. It’s hard to deny yourself something pleasurable. However, the ability to delay a reward is crucial in terms of achieving your goals and life success.

Why is delayed gratification beneficial to us? Firstly, it helps us plan for the future. We can set a goal and stick to it.

It also helps us evolve life skills. Denying yourself something is no easy feat. When we practice delayed gratification, we strengthen our ability to develop discipline, persistence, and patience.

It causes us to understand ourselves better. When you know why you make the choices you make and are mindful about your decisions, you learn a lot about yourself as a person.

Believe it or not, delayed gratification also helps the people around you. You can aid them with the skills you develop. For example, you being disciplined can help your partner or family member also become disciplined.

The uncertainty is the main reason delayed gratification is so hard. Your immediate reward is right there in front of you, and it’s a sure thing. Your long-term benefit – whether it’s weight loss, financial well-being, or something else – is uncertain and seems far away.

Some strategies can help you increase your ability to delay gratification. These include:

giving definite time frames: set a solid deadline for when you will receive your reward – knowing that will make you feel more assured,
goal-setting: put in place a specific, attainable, and measurable goal,
setting realistic deadlines: when trying to achieve a goal, think of a sensible timeline for yourself to accomplish it, don’t set yourself up for failure,
tracking your activities and mindful journaling: it’s a good accountability tool and a reliable way to improve impulse control,
positive replacement behavior – for instance, replacing an unhealthy habit with a healthy one (instead of watching TV in bed, try reading a book for half an hour),
positive self-talk – don’t punish yourself, avoid talking negatively about yourself, and practice self-compassion.

We have some quotes about delayed gratification to motivate you into action!

“Be careful not to compromise what you want most for what you want now.” – Zig Ziglar

“Great investing requires a lot of delayed gratification.” – Charlie Munger

“Delayed gratification is a sweet lesson whose teacher knows the best is not right now, it is yet to be.” – Maximillian Degeneres

“Without delayed gratification, goals are not achieved and objectives don’t get accomplished.” – Sunday Adelaja

Are you ready to discover how good you are at delayed gratification? Get down to the questions and find out the truth about yourself! Good luck and have fun!