How Our Brains Trick Us Into Choosing Instant Gratification Over Long-term Goals

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Humans are clever creatures.

We thought up outer space travel, penicillin and the Internet. With every century, the technology we use gets more and more sophisticated. And yet, we still make irrational decisions each day.

We choose to stay in an unhappy situation rather than pursue something else. We keep putting off a project until the night before the deadline. We do things knowing that they'll likely lead to regret down the road -- so why do we do them?

We’re not as in control as we think.

We like to think that we are logical and rational about our decisions. If a problem comes up, we think through each step carefully and find a way to resolve it. That may be true some of the time, but more often than not, a lot of times we act first, then think later. As a result, we perform an action and then find a way to logically make sense of what we did in what is known as the attitude follows behavior principle.



  • Not apply to grad school for fear of rejection and say, “I didn’t really want to go there anyway.”
  • Not pursue business leads that could grow your revenues, then tell yourself that you're comfortable where you are.

In all of these instances, we do things to feel better in the short-term without considering the long-term consequences. We may live to regret our choices down the road, but since we’re doing fine right now, so there’s little incentive to change.

Related: Train Your Brain to See Better Choices Than Fight-or-Flight

It seems silly now to see the rationale behind poor choices. It’s as if we have different personalities waging a war inside of us, pulling us in different directions. In a sense, that’s exactly what’s happening.

The three brain networks.


The first layer, known as the basal ganglia or “reptilian brain,” is the oldest of the three. It focuses on survival, such as nourishment, reproduction and threat avoidance. While that’s all good, this part of our brain is averse to changes and can be stubborn to the suggestions of other parts of the brain.


Finally, the neocortex is the newest part of the brain. It focuses on complex skills such as rational thinking, creativity and languages. We have the neocortex to thank largely for civilization’s advancements.


How your brain makes decisions.









Make peace in times of war.


Don’t despair just yet. There’s good news.


While that’s an improvement, we still easily get seduced by the bag of Doritos nearby. So here are some methods that I’ve used to help my brain do what’s best for me in the long run.

1. Manage your environment.



2. Tend to basic needs.



3. Tie emotion to your goals.


Related: 4 Tips to Wire Your Brain for Entrepreneurial Wisdom

On the other hand, if you find it hard to work on a project, find ways to make it exciting. I like to use the Page-turner Technique to make it easier to get back into where I left off. You can also picture how your life will benefit from completing a task.

4. Just do it.

When we feel nervous or scared of doing something, we often try to talk ourselves into becoming more confident. While this method helps boost up our self-esteem, there comes a point when you just have to jump. After all, we’re naturally inclined to stay in the same situation.



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