Name of the Game: DELAYED GRATIFICATION.
Meaning: Delayed gratification, or deferred gratification, is the resistance to the temptation of an immediate pleasure in the hope of obtaining a valuable and long-lasting reward in the long-term. In other words, delayed gratification describes the process that the subject undergoes when the subject resists the temptation of an immediate reward in preference for a later reward.
A flashback to my college days, I studied in one of the most reputed colleges in the country. But the way to get to this institution was an uphill struggle for me. The Bombay local trains were a brilliant mode to take me from point A to point B through a path of least resistance.
I got a stipulated sum of Rs.150-200 daily just for college from my parents, for a rejuvenating set of meals to supplement the daily draining pursuits in college. I was zealous in everything I did, attempting to perfect each choice I made. My food choices revolved around the in-house tiffin corner operated by a man called “Anna" which means big brother in most South Indian languages.
So Anna was good at making some home-made cuisine replicas and I stuck to that after constantly hovering over the counters vending other cuisines, which was not necessarily the healthiest to consume on a daily basis.
I took the most viable "out" in this case, which is plan Anna.
Chicken curry with 3 boneless pieces and 3 Indian breads also called rotis would cost me Rs.45 a plate.
The first phase of college would leave me depleted to a point of wanting to refuel yet again. So to fill me up before the second bout of a couple of lectures lasting a lifetime, I decided to cut a little deal with Mr. Anna.
I offered my hospitable friend another possible option to monetize. I asked him if I could have another serving of chicken curry with another 3 pieces of chicken, making it a total of a whopping 6 pieces of tummy-satisfying chicken, skipping the 3 breads that come with the second plate.
He nodded yes like it was nothing.
So now my meal cost me Rs.60 but I got a double serving of the main dish which was chicken, and 3 Indian breads to go with this meal that I plus sold to myself, to meet my needs.
This would've costed me Rs.90 daily, but now I ended up paying Rs.60 and walking away fuller and delighted about striking a fair and great deal - all because I opted for 1 and a half plate, forgoing 3 breads but getting the full benefit of 2 plates.
I loved playing around with the details of every deal I strike in life.
My choices revolve around basic nuances like win - win, where both parties walk away smiling.
I detest a win - lose, where a person who's dealing with me, feels his victory magnified, only and only if I face a loss as an outcome. This is someone I have absolutely nothing to do with and neither should you.
Anna met the demand with prompt supply without hassle.
Before reading, pondering, examining & embracing the wisdom as to how to conduct myself the right way, valuing decisions and relationships over a lower valued proponent like money, I made a good choice to go cheap and healthy but made an equally foolish choice of blowing the rest of my money on mocha, which was -
A. Hampering my health. (Today, I stay away from all kinds of caffeinated beverages, even consuming chocolate in ultra limited proportions.)
B. Draining me off my remaining funds leaving me broke as I headed home, thus putting me in a great deficit, showing me, I learnt nothing about applicability in college!
C. Basic financial rules like Cost-Benefit and Risk-Profiling, apply to all facets of life, including your micro decisions that you think don't matter. But the fundamentals of your decisive mental make-up are built by a spectrum of choices from your smallest choice to the biggest.
I then thought long enough over this constant dilemma and came up with a stratagem.
Stratagems are flaming swords to immunize a farm.
Stratagems are also a conquerors spear & shield.
It's called Wordsmith Holdings.
You can replace my name with yours and you're good to go with this interactive thought experiment, for you to stay on track and not be mortgaged with your goods.
The World has considered all your possible choices well before you make it. If you think you're smarter than the smartest minds in the world who have considered all permutations and combinations before they throw you off the glass cliff, then think again.
In the supermarket, or in the mall, a good deal doesn't come easy.
It comes with a catch like getting you to dabble in credit because of the attractive cashbacks and discounts, followed by psychological studies to get you to buy 3 products on EMI when you intended to buy 1 on full price, because that’s what you could afford.
Consumer psychology is deeply integrated in every sales strategy, which I believe isn't evil on face value, because businesses do what they need to in order to turn a profit.
But it's your duty to harvest the best outcome for yourself.
I personally understand that my most possible decisions as ONE of the BILLION customers out there, have been studied through in-depth analysis of data by major think tanks. They have already taken into consideration, from 1 to 4, your 4th distinct possibility that you considered esoteric, even though you almost always end up going with the first choice.
For instance, if I have a sum of Rs. 40,000 and I'm being coerced into a foolish choice, I'd know it by the pressuring vibe of the store I'm in. Let's say I walked in to buy a phone worth Rs.40,000 but they subtly nudge me to go for a printer, refrigerator and laptop by using the Rs.40,000 as a down-payment for all 3 and pay easy installments of Rs.3000 for the next 2 years.
Sounds rosy?
Yes, but the thorns are going to make you sorry you handled it so incautiously.
Note - It's not point-blank evil to want these 3 things in this specific way, even if you do opt for an EMI plan, all I'm saying is if we possibly retreat and think about the whole thing, you would be able to structure a better deal for yourself, evading an unnecessary EMI with a minimum of a 10% interest.
All because YOU couldn't wait.
Wordsmith Holdings is based on a basic premise to hold my urges for the moment before I close the deal on something detrimental, haunting me at a later date.
I'm not big on regrets, neither should you be, but I'm also not big on making a decision that'd get me to regret even for a minute as there are many ways to avert disaster by being a bit more mindful.
I'm not into board games at all and virtually haven’t played Monopoly in my entire life, but upon my casual research on the game, the rules of monopoly are as follows:
Monopoly Rules:
“In the game, players roll two dice to move around the game board, buying and trading properties and developing them with houses and hotels. Players collect rent from their opponents, aiming to drive them into bankruptcy.”
Not to mention, there's jail time just like life when you have run-ins with the law.
The invisible net of debt can get the best of us, not saying it's unwise to be in one but it's definitely unwise to overestimate your capabilities to outsmart the smartest bankers in the world, who's entire job is based on upselling banking services.
I use this stratagem that I called Mental Monopoly to keep myself off the hook and request you to base your life around the same.
To conclude, I would like you to base your concept of Delayed Gratification, by remembering this proverb from a random scribble on the internet.
"When a pessimist is faced with 2 bad choices, he chooses both."
I request you to never settle to a partial deal and rebuke every limiting thought in your mind, coercing you to sell yourself short, taking your elevator straight to the top, to reach your well-intentioned floor of choice.
This thought bubble is one size that fits all, it can be applied as a base thought for all matters, big or small.
Yours Truly.
Plated
What's on my plate?
A blessing from the sky
Xenophobic explorer's staff
Fears relinquished with a "Hi"
A plane unraveling it's wings
Ready to rule the sky
What's on the pilot's plate
Our grounded hearts sigh...
Some live in palaces
Some live in caves and clefts
Some imprisoned in society
Some accomplice to thefts
It's a plate to fill
Mandates for a meal
Don't shake hands right away
Read the fine print of the deal
The kind of food on the plate
Yes, that matters in the courts above
A high moral code, a righteous standard
Let another man celebrate for now
We both have meals on our plate
Praise the Most High on high
Today we must righteously live
'Cause old sport, tomorrow we may just die.
