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Do you like the idea of being able to achieve bigger and better rewards in the future? Do you want to be happy? Most people would respond yes to those questions.

Delayed gratification is one factor that leads to improved health, academic success, and social competence.

Here is the problem though, books and articles about getting rich quick are inherently misleading. One quick way to make money is to write a popular book, about getting rich, that people will buy.

However, great goals usually require time, patience, self-discipline, and the sacrifice of immediate pleasure.

Imagine a dangerously oversimplified scenario in which there are two types of people: the type that can delay gratification and the type that struggles to manage impulse control.

Think about it in terms that are down to earth. Purchasing expensive phones, watches, and cars temporarily pleases us but over the long-term it sets us back.

Saving for retirement seems like an impossible, ridiculous, and unnecessary idea. Why would anybody choose to not chop all his/her money before he/she dies? Yet, it is a good idea.

Saving up money every month for a big goal seems impossible right?

Sacrificing a daughter’s education for immediate gains initially sounds understandable, but we need to carefully consider all the costs.

Let’s put it into the framework of family. A good older brother would make sacrifices to help his younger siblings continue their education.

A bad older brother would spend all of his money on expensive clothes, phones, watches, and girlfriends while his siblings suffered.

Imagine the mind and thought process of a young woman that is considering a marital proposal. She can think about the short-term and the long-term. She will think about what she stands to gain and what it could cost.

The costs of education seem to be unbearable, but the long-term costs of not pursuing educational attainment are sometimes worse.

In conclusion, prudence is good. It’s possible to choose prudence.