Verified by 
Key points
- It's hard to work toward longer-range goals when you expect instant results.
- Expectations of having success immediately can lead to much disappointment.
- Preparing for a successful future takes time and commitment.
These days, we all seem to live in an “instant” world. Everything is at our fingertips. We can do research with the click of a mouse, we have 100s of channels on our TVs that can be accessed immediately, and the internet provides more videos on YouTube alone than someone could possibly watch in their lifetime. With all of this instant access to just about anything a person could want or be interested in, it’s no wonder adolescents don’t have a lot of patience to work toward longer-term goals.
Trying to help them see the value in working toward goals and building upon their efforts can be more challenging today than it’s ever been. Yet, it’s important that teens understand the value of delaying gratification to achieve greater success. Being able to build an economic buffer against lean times or work on a project days before its due requires planning and commitment. These are important skills to learn and they necessitate being able to delay gratification for a greater goal.
Preparing for the Unexpected
Many people in today’s society live paycheck to paycheck. Some do this because they just don’t make enough money to put any into savings. However, many people haven’t been taught the value of savings and spend all they make each week often just for the gratification of getting something new. Yet, people who are able to make saving an integral part of their finances are people who don’t have to panic when unexpected expenses come up in their lives.
This is an important lesson for teens to learn. It won’t be long before they’re out on their own, and they will likely find that landlords are a lot less forgiving about money than their parents are. It’s important that teens and adolescents understand the value of restraint when it comes to the choices they make in their lives.
One of the dangers of living in an instant-gratification society is that people get used to having everything they want the moment they want it. The internet provides overnight delivery of many products. Every screen in your house dangles consumer goods directly in front of you and makes it easy to buy them immediately. Once you have credit cards it’s easy to stop thinking of purchases as actually being done with money and more like just numbers being shuffled around.
One of the reasons that casinos use chips for gambling is because it removes some of the immediacy of seeing your actual money being taken away. It replaces the feeling of money with tokens that can seem less scary to bet. That same effect can happen when using credit cards to buy the things being offered.
Instilling Realistic Expectations
While it’s easy to blame the youth of today if they have a lackluster approach toward delaying gratification, that’s how many are being raised. Yes, they may not have the work ethic parents would like them to have, but often that’s not their fault. We have to consider that they were raised in a society that gave them the promise of instant satisfaction. We’ve all seen advertising designed to have us use credit to get what we want now. Teens pick up on such messaging, which means it can take a concerted effort to help them understand the value of not overextending themselves.
It’s not surprising that many children were raised with an expectation of things being easy for them. Some received awards at school for just showing up and have been led to believe they are virtually guaranteed a happy and affluent life. Unfortunately, many may be in for a rude awakening.
Parents, educators and other adults in a child’s life can do them a real service by helping them see things more realistically. Today financial security requires more and more money. Children who are given limits and asked to work toward goals rather than have things handed to them,learn the value of delaying gratification. By doing so, they are developing skills and awareness that can help them be better prepared to succeed.
Building Toward a Positive Future
Adults can show children that the affluence they’re bombarded with in advertising on a daily basis can be achievable with effort and hard work but that it doesn’t usually happen overnight. Being able to have realistic goals and an understanding of working toward longer-term success can give them a better chance of actualizing their dreams.
Children’s focus on school and training for careers they would enjoy and can support them financially can pay huge dividends toward their futures. It may be the most effective way to help them prepare themselves to live the financially stable, affluent lives they see each day on their phones, TV’s, and social media.
