delay your gratification

more than high-end luxury items,
or extremely specific niche products,
or poorly reviewed, cheap commodities,

the hardest thing to sell, by and large is… prevention.

regardless of how problem (or solution) aware the prospect is, selling the cure has always been easier and more profitable than selling prevention, why?

1. seeking instant gratification is a classic human animal trait if ever there was one
2. temporal and reward uncertainty – am I really going to obtain pleasure (lose weight, get a raise) if I go through perceived pain (eat less, exercise, take on this project) in X time?

professionally? I’ve never been mad at impulse buyers in my life (especially the kind that don’t ask for refunds)
personally? I’ve been navigating my life based on this one aphorism I’ve learned from John Williamson:

short term pleasure = long term pain
short term pain = long term pleasure

when in doubt, always choose good fuel for your engine.

and if you ever find yourself in a position in which you have to sell prevention, whether to yourself or to others,

ask yourself this:
“what is the financial and emotional cost that I will pay if I let things continue the way they have and don’t change?”

then list out the consequences…

I’ll see you tomorrow.

today is day 181 of the year, there are 184 days remaining of 2022.