The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do To Get More of It

WILLPOWER EXPERIMENT: LOWER YOUR DISCOUNT

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RATE
Fortunately, a person’s discount rate is not an immutable law of physics. It can be lowered just
by changing how you think about your choices.
Imagine I give you a $100 check that is good in ninety days. Then I try to bargain you down:
Would you be willing to trade it in for a $50 check that is good today? Most people would not.
However, if people are first given the $50 check, and then asked if they’d be willing to exchange
it for a $100 delayed reward, most will not. The reward you start with is the one you want to
keep.
One reason is that most people are loss-averse—that is, we really don’t like to lose something
we already have. Losing $50 makes people more 
unhappy
than getting $50 makes them happy.
When you think about a larger, future reward first and consider trading it in for a smaller,
immediate reward, it registers as a loss. But when you start with the immediate reward (the $50
check in your hand) and consider the benefits of delaying gratification for a larger reward, it
also feels like a loss.
Economists have found that you will come up with more reasons to justify choosing
whichever reward you think about first. People who start by asking themselves, “Why should I
take the check for $50?” will think of more reasons to support immediate gratification (“I can
really use the money,” “Who knows if the $100 check will even be good in ninety days?”).
People who start by asking themselves, “Why should I take the check for $100?” will think of
more reasons to support delaying gratification (“That will buy twice as many groceries,” “I’m
going to need money just as much in ninety days as I do now”). Future-reward discounting drops
dramatically when people think about the future reward first.
You can use this quirk of decision making to resist immediate gratification, whatever the
temptation:
1. When you are tempted to act against your long-term interests, frame the choice as giving
up the best possible long-term reward for whatever the immediate gratification is.
2. Imagine that long-term reward as already yours. Imagine your future self enjoying the
fruits of your self-control.
3. Then ask yourself: Are you willing to give that up in exchange for whatever fleeting
pleasure is tempting you now?

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