Immediate Gratification, Please
Dear friend,
I'm in love! I found a new mountain biking trail and I just can't get enough of it. It's a directional single-track trail that starts off with a steady incline and within about 10 minutes, I'm literally going faster on my bike than I have ever gone before and it oddly isn't that steep of an incline. I don't even understand how I go so fast. In that section is a turn that I haven't completely made yet.
In a few places, there are flat slate stones embedded in the trail. Which when you brake on, don't help slow you down as much as dirt. I have to use my breaks more than ever and also pedal more than ever. I literally don't understand exactly how gravity works in these woods. Thus my fascination, deep appreciation and persistent desire to be back there. It stimulates the exact feeling I hope to get when I'm on my bike. I love it!
I told you a couple of weeks ago I rode my mt. bike 15 miles on asphalt. It was NOT enjoyable, but a good work out. I haven't thought about doing it again. My bike is not designed for asphalt. It may sound exaggerative, but I do love this trail. My bike is perfect for it. It offers just the right amount of difficulty and challenge creating an internal exhilaration that I can't manufacture myself. It takes 30-40 minutes to complete the loop.
Is that one of the true ingredients of love - just the right amount of challenge and thrill? Unlike a roller coaster, I have to do all the pedaling to get to experience it, which is the central component of why it's so fulfilling. The work I'm putting in, is giving me immediate gratification that literally takes my breath away. Ahhhh, it's a grand thing to be in love...
GRATIFIED
Like you, I want to be disciplined, patient and intentional. "Delayed gratification" is the mantraof all smart investors, good parents and vision-oriented leaders. There aren't many books praising the glory of immediate gratification. It tends to be the tempting, luring enemy of all-things-meaningful. The story goes if we get it now, it's cheap and not long-lasting.
I'm here to pitch a different story. The rush of going at those speeds and trying to stay on the trail (and my bike), keep me pedaling even more, though my quads are burning. The sensation of satisfaction perpetuates my willingness to press harder. Because I get an immediate return on my investment, I want to keep investing. Immediate gratification, please.
MINDSHIFT
What if you designed your week in a way that made sure you always received some sort of positive return quickly.
WORDS
My cherished wife was telling me a story about a boss who withheld her positive and affirming observations until she was retiring. Literally, the last 10 years of her professional career didn't say boo. Then when she was exiting her role, she gushed specifically about the compounding consistency of competence, excellence and execution.
Why would someone withhold something so valuable? Who knows? Michelle and I agreed, it would have made a difference in that person's life if the boss had been generous with those words in real-time, all along. You and I have the exact same opportunity with family, friends, colleagues and even strangers to affirm them and their efforts. What's stopping you? Immediate gratification, please.
MINDSHIFT
What if you baked into your weekly schedule a designated time to validate someone?
CRASH
I've only been on the trail three times. But I find myself thinking about sections, so when I face them again, I can maneuver a little better. I know I'm still tentative because I haven't crashed yet. It's going to be a spectacular ejection from my bike when it happens. I'm going to go over a corner or hook a tree. Ironically, once I do that, it will set me even more free to extract every morsel of adventure the trail holds for me.
Playing it safe certainly doesn't guarantee satisfaction. Sometimes hazards are the most liberating.
I wonder if the real story behind delay or immediate isn't the timing, but that most humans don't live gratified? I'm not sure where the word came from, but it sounds like a mashup of grateful and satisfied, doesn't it? Why wouldn't we want the immediacy of that? I know the fear is, if attained, it will prohibit ongoing efforts. However, when achieved right, it only makes you want to pedal faster! Immediate gratification, please!
SHIFTING
I hope this week you experience a deep sense of satisfaction and find yourself entirely grateful for whatever challenges, difficulties, or hairpin turns you face. Let the thrill of life energize your efforts and be someone who energizes others. #ShiftAway
