We are living in instant gratification mode.
We want everything NOW. In fact, we EXPECT it.
Our culture has become one of instant gratification, instant reward.
For example …
We go through a fast-food drive thru and get irritated if we have to pull forward and wait a few minutes for our food.
Our internet doesn’t load pages instantly and we get start gritting our teeth.
Our viewing habits on the internet reveal the impatience that has developed by the instant gratification culture.
A recent study of 6.7 million internet users revealed that viewers became impatient after waiting for 2 seconds. After five seconds, 25% of the viewers clicked off. At ten seconds, 50% were gone.
Retailers now offer same-day, overnight or two-day delivery services.
Our Smartphone apps eliminate the wait for a cab, a date, or a table at a restaurant.
Streaming movies and TV shows has become the norm. Netflix has 33 million customers who stream videos compared to 8 million who order the DVDs by mail.
Visitors at Disney World and other amusement parks pay for a “fast” pass so they don’t have to wait in line.
It’s apparent – we are gravitation toward being more focused on quick fun and instant results than on reading books or magazines.
That echoes the Pew study where researchers found the rapid pace of technology can lead to more nimble thinking, but that “trends are leading to a future in which most people are shallow consumers of information.”
And that’s just the beginning of this discussion …
Instant gratification prevails in the internet marketing industry, too. It constantly shows up when people join a business opportunity and expect to receive income immediately, and become angry and bitter when it doesn’t happen for them. (Of course, hype and spammed ads play a huge role in this – ads which promise big money in 30 days.)
And then, there’s the personal development journey of discovery and growth that many entrepreneurs value and study; but even in this quest, people desire results NOW.
We read books like Think and Grow Rich, the Master Key System, Secrets of the Millionaire Mind and we “get it” – we understand what is being taught – but the changes we desire don’t just miraculously happen overnight.
Charles Haanel writes in Chapter 23 of the Master Key System:
Perfection in this is not acquired in six days,
nor in six weeks, nor in six months. It is the
labor of life.
A favorite saying rings true, “The hurrier I go, the behinder I get.”
It is best to remember this advice as you are seeking to grow personally and financially:
To go fast, go slow. To go slow, go fast.
We will always be learning more about ourselves, our power, our ability to create and manifest our desires. Sometimes, results will be instant; however, most of the time it will seem like it’s taking
F O R E V E R.
When the wait seems so long, problems arise. Doubt starts to seep in and take over your thoughts and emotions.
Maybe I’m not cut out for this,
Maybe I’m not smart enough, techy enough,
Maybe I’m too old
Maybe I should give up
These doubts sneak up on you because you start looking around and see other people’s results, and it seems like they are just breezing through, having all kinds of success.
Your thoughts begin to drift away from your ability for creating more, taking inspired action, being open to the people and things that are put in your path to help you achieve all that you desire.
Doubt sneaks in until you are thinking more about what you aren’t accomplishing rather than what you are.
And, as the Law of Attraction teaches – what you think about comes about.
Another issue that often develops on the journey of personal development is separating the study and practice from all that you do.
If personal development is just a thing you do in your spare time, as opposed to a way of life, well, the results will be temporary and unfulfilling.
If I asked most people, “What do you do for personal development?” I know the answers I would hear: I read, study, meditate, visualize, repeat affirmations, etc.
If you view personal development as a tool to pick up and master in order to get results, you are missing the secret.
Personal development is not a tool, it is a way of being.
But, if you totally immerse in personal development – in thinking, acting, believing, doing all that you have learned and have yet to learn; if it has become your normal operating mode – where you don’t have to think about it – you just live it 24/7, you will create the life and results that you desire.
August Turak author of Business Secrets of the Trappist Monks: One CEO’s Quest for Meaning and Authenticity writes
“Whether you call it personal development, personal growth, self-actualization, self-transcendence, or spirituality does not matter. What matters is realizing that the reason you were born is to become the best human being you can possibly be. Personal development is not a tool for reaching a bigger goal. Becoming a complete human being is already the biggest and most noble goal you can aspire to.”
Really, it just goes back to familiar words: “seek ye first … and all these things will be added unto you.”
It is through aligning your thoughts and beliefs with Universe – God – Source – Spirit that is the goal. Making the connection – creating the harmony between your desires and beliefs.
Seek the connection, the alignment first in every single thing you do.
Ask yourself as you go through your day making decisions, marketing your business:
Will this help me become a better person?
Does this serve the highest good?
Am I growing?
Am I moving forward?
Am I becoming more aligned?
Of course, it’s hard to take your mind of the money because as Charles Haanel writes in The Master Key System “money weaves itself into the entire fabric of our very existence.”
It’s why we go to work at the 8-5. It’s why we decide to start our own business. Money is woven into our existence.
But our success is not measured in a dollar amount. That’s what the world wants us to believe and we get caught up in that. We ooh and aah over income levels.
Success is not measured in dollar amounts.
The law of success is service.
We get what we give.
To get more get value, you must give more give value. It’s the Golden Rule, Karma, the Law of Compensation.
For this reason we should consider it a great privilege to be able to give.
Not only of our money, but of our time, our joy and happiness, our patience and understanding, our love and encouragement. You have much to give to others.
When we avail ourselves as servants to others, we become a conduit for more, for the flow, for the alignment with Universal Power.
When we look at the outside and see what others are achieving and start comparing, we start doubting and the flow is stopped.
Les Brown speaks on giving in this powerful speech:
See yourself as an opening for the Universe to work through to move through to make a difference in life. –Les Brown
You give but little when you give of your possessions.
It is when you give of yourself that you truly give.
There are those who give little of the much which they have–and they give it for recognition and their hidden desire makes their gifts unwholesome.
And there are those who have little and give it all.
These are the believers in life and the bounty of life, and their coffer is never empty.
-Kahib Gibran
Serving is the way of being and
giving is the means of serving.
Living in instant gratification mode can be rewarding if you focus solely on giving to others. The instant gratification will be a feeling of joy and love … and you absolutely can’t beat that feeling.
Here’s to your life of serving others.
Trisha
p: 573-881-6715
f: Message me on Facebook with any questions
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