Hyperbolic Discounting

It is common for people to feel that their future self is not real. This would lead them to think that it is not crucial to plan ahead. This phenomenon is called hyperbolic discounting. It is prevalent among youth and young adults.

This living in the here and now mindset would often lead to instant gratification and a shun off from any form of future or retirement planning that they have. One simple example is when one really wished to be fitter or slimmer but he/she just couldn't skip the fudge cake during his/her afternoon tea break or when one really wished to be financially free but just couldn't stop his/her self from buying the things that he/she wanted which would lead them to more debt in the end.

I believe this is intrinsic in human nature. Both reward(which is a pleasant stimulus) and effort (which is an unpleasant stimulus) are responsible for it. We would tend to veer more towards immediate rewards which is the easiest and most gratifying but we tend to procrastinate on the troublesome and unpleasant effort to reach those goals.

Here are a few ways that one can adopt to kick this habit:

1) The main culprit to me is inconsistent planning, try to set short term goals that can be reached. This makes it more likely for us to give up our instant wants when our short term goal is within reach.

2) Try to reduce our instinctive needs by trying to do more reflection on our train of thought. Acknowledging that what we are doing is a form of hyperbolic discounting can prevent us from choosing instant gratification.

3) Often times our long term goals are too complex to be reached. Break them down into a simpler form and tackle each one one at a time so that we can be refocused. 

4) A lack of motivation can also veer us towards immediate rewards that could endanger our long term goals. Try to remotivate(if there is such a word) ourselves towards our goal. One way of remotivation is to remind ourselves how important these goals are for our future.