Postponing gratification: Sociology tip #2

Pulling an all-nighter in a startup is not much different from studying really hard for that exam in University or opening a book in high school, when there were so many more interesting things to do.

Sociology of social classes (in it’s really simplified form), teaches us that one of the most important qualities of middle class is that it’s able to postpone gratification to a later date. Studying for many years often throughout summer and holidays, working on a project while others party are prime examples of this.

Looking at the situation in short term, it seems that others have much more fun and enjoyment, than we do. Which is exactly what’s happening, with the idea that in a longer run we can outperform them since the cumulative added value of our work will be much greater.

The Mind Hack in this case is that, you just have to decide that not getting instant gratification for your current work is part of the social class we live and thus continue working on whatever hard and often not enjoyable task we’re occupied at that moment.

It’s not the nicest idea, but our current observations of society show us that this is how the system currently works. Knowing the rules should give us a bit of advantage over others.