Everything is transactional.

If we make peace with this statement as early as possible, things will be better off for us.

Try to avoid attaching a negative ring around "transactional" when you read this. Sometimes, the currency we trade in includes our time, efforts, resilience, patience, etc. We are all trading something daily in return for something. Sometimes, we want money, and occasionally, we may require external validation from peers or family. The list is endless.

As per Wikipedia, delayed 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. While that may make sense when you read it, it takes more work to implement when you try it out. We all seek rewards for the efforts we put into something — preferably today, if not tomorrow.

Sadly, that gives us a 50-50 chance of getting instant returns vs. never getting those returns back. To improve the odds, we need to build a tolerance to wait. That discomfort of waiting will eat you up, but it's worth it. We sometimes can't be patient because we obsess too much about what our perceived value will look like. It is one of the influencing factors (knowingly or unknowingly) when we decide/act for ourselves or others.

Remember that your failures and successes will matter the most to you. Others only care about it for a minute, a month or a decade, depending on how well you lived your life for others. The first step towards building an influence or making your existence worthwhile is to be honest with yourself and shoulder responsibility.

Your word is your bond, not to others but to yourself. If your actions do not match your words, you will have a hard time building a disciplined life. The gap between your words and actions should be the least to ensure your chance of success in the near future.

Do you know why you fail at sticking to a routine?

Because you reason with yourself, you rationalise your laziness or inability to show up. You justify your momentary weakness or shift that burden of responsibility to tomorrow. Because that's convenient, it's simple. No one will ever know you had a moment of weakness, and you let it compound.

But suppose you change the narrative and hold yourself to the highest rank possible; treat yourself as someone you actually care about.

In that case, you will have a better chance of sticking to a routine, a better chance of taking control over your actions and a better chance of eliminating the worst possible excuses that you can come up with to deal with your inadequacies.

This will most certainly not happen in a day.

Still, if you keep at it long enough, you will build a better physique, you will form better relationships, you will feel accomplished, and you will be able to sleep at peace knowing that you gave life whatever you had to offer, and you hold no regrets.

Want to lose weight? Start Walking. That's the easiest way to get active.

Want to become a better writer? Start typing down your thoughts on any topic daily.

Want to play a musical instrument? Practice for 15 minutes every single day.

When we were young, our minds were too curious to explore anything and everything. Now that we have our basics covered, we keep ourselves from wandering too far from what untapped potential can look like.

We get complacent, and we get comfortable with what we have. Maybe we shouldn't do that. Perhaps we can be so much more if we start telling the truth to ourselves. Next time, you try to reason with your brain to skip a class or act lazy.

Remember that you are losing on time.

Remember that you betray yourself when you don't do what you say.