Career Podcast: Are You Deferring Your Goals Rather than Attaining Them?

We live in a society that glorifies deferred gratification as the end-all and be-all of success. We are taught that if we work hard enough to make enough money, afterward we can finally pursue our passions. The problem, says Life Architect Stever Robbins, is that we may never reach fulfillment because we have spent our entire lives deferring it.

Robbins, who attended MIT and Harvard Business School, has done everything from writing books and performing musical theater to computer programming and becoming a #1 iTunes business podcaster.

PROBLEMS WITH DEFERRED GRATIFICATION:

• You've trapped yourself in the deferred phase, rather than the gratification phase. 
  
  You build a life around yourself (through relationships, skills, mindset, etc.) that keeps you trapped in the life you built. If your life strictly revolves around a career where its sole purpose is to reach gratification eventually, you're still trapped within the confines of your career.


• You're not building the infrastructure to actually fulfill your passion.
  
  For example, if you've always wanted to start a nonprofit, but all your time and energy has gone into being an investment banker, how can you ever be prepared to go into the nonprofit world? You've built none of the necessary framework to get there. Do research. Make contacts. Attend events. Do something.


• After too much time the doors of opportunity will close. 
  
  Waiting too long could mean you have to start from scratch or look for alternative ways to get into your passion. This can be extremely difficult, especially at retirement age. Get in while you still can!