This morning, Mr. Shing introduced to us an ability we rarely talked about – the delayed gratification – the ability to resist temptation for immediate pleasure in exchange for a better reward in the future. Mr. Shing observed that the popular culture nowadays was promoting immediate gratification in the expense of our future, like borrowing money to satisfy our nonessential needs. This trend is harmful to our personal development and future success. As pointed out by various examples in Mr. Shing’s message and numerous research studies in psychology, students who could delay their desires for immediate gratification were much more likely to be successful. You might think choosing to study before exams instead of gaming away your revision time is an easy decision. It actually requires an ability that takes effort and patience to build up when we are still young. Let’s take this message to our hearts and cultivate delayed gratification so our minor sacrifices at the moment can be translated into bigger rewards in the future.
