The i-Generation - Breaking Free from Instant Gratification

"Why our generation's addiction to instant rewards is hurting us and how focusing on improvement over immediate gratification can transform your business and life.

If I had to name our generation, I would call us the "i" generation. "i" like iPhone. "i" like me, focusing on myself. "i" like instant. We are living in an era of instant gratification - you do something, you get a reward instantly.

I don't think someone is trying to harm us with malicious intent. It's simply the way nature works. Think about how you train any mammal - dogs, whales, dolphins - through instant gratification. You give them rewards immediately as soon as they perform the desired behavior. That's exactly how our brains work.

The Damage We Can Already See

This instant gratification mindset is hurting us in ways we can already observe in older generations. We don't have to wait to find out for ourselves. Our generation - millennials born around 2000 - are in the perfect position to make a change. Soon, we're becoming parents. Some already have children, others will in the coming years. By 2030, most of us will be parents.

That leaves us with a crucial question: What are we going to teach? How are we going to impact the world?

Society has developed tremendously in the past century. Living 200 years ago versus now is completely different, and I would choose now every day of the week, despite our problems. But our task is to make this awesomeness even better.

The Dopamine Spike Cycle

You get rewards immediately on social media - you scroll and get a dose of dopamine. But your body cannot handle this amount of dopamine, so there's immediately a crash. Then you have to scroll again to fill the void.

This dopamine spike lasts only a fraction of a second, then it's gone. You need to feel that sensation again. You're operating in spikes - imagine a graph with peaks up, then bottoms, then peaks again. The average is "I'm kind of satisfied, kind of okay with what's going on."

This especially affects entrepreneurs because we're innovators. The dopamine reward system is crucial to us, and we feel these sensations in ways others don't.

My Solution: Consumption Detox

I stopped consuming social media while still creating content everywhere - Instagram stories, YouTube, blog posts, newsletters. I stopped the consumption side.

A year ago, I didn't even have a smartphone - I used a ""stupid phone"" for detox. What's beautiful about these spikes is that once you complete a shutdown and total detox, you can quiet them down. You're still susceptible to addiction, but you can get over it until you fall back into the loop.

I want you to place a mirror in front of yourself every time you're on your phone doing something unproductive. I'm not talking about productive phone use - research, learning, calling people, using ChatGPT to learn something new. I'm talking about that uncontrollable urge to scroll and consume content for hours.

The Food Connection

We do the same thing with food - eating for emotional and physical spikes we feel we can't live without. You eat simple carbs, your body gets too much too fast, can't control it. Some gets used for energy, but the excess gets stored as fat because your body doesn't know what else to do with it.

In the worst case, this fat goes into your blood vessels where you can't see it. Your body gets too much too fast, doesn't know what to do with it, stores it somewhere, then demands more.

I was addicted to sugar for many years. I could eat an entire Milka chocolate bar in one go, seeking that instant energy reward. This leads to spikes - you get energy fast, then crash lower than before, needing to do it again and again.

The Business Connection

This directly relates to your business endeavors. When I was addicted to screens, eating poorly, and not exercising, I was in a serious dopamine addiction. When you're addicted to something, you don't do anything else well, or if you do, it's not with the quality you want.

Young people starting real estate or chasing dreams want money now. When they get it, they spend it all, then need more now. If they get more, they spend even more, creating an endless cycle.

But most people don't get immediate results because that's not how business works. Your body is trained for instant rewards, but entrepreneurship and real estate don't provide instant rewards.

Focus on Improvement, Not Rewards

Instead, look at your improvement and get satisfaction from it. Don't chase rewards - chase satisfaction, which is more powerful and amazing. Feel gratitude and satisfaction with your progress.

Compare how I talk now versus how I used to talk, how I produce content now versus before. Same with real estate - how I look at business, operate with employees, manage teams. I'm a better entrepreneur, businessman, and partner.

Why? Because I'm not looking for rewards - I'm looking for improvement. I became obsessed with improvement, not perfection.

Imagine what happens if you keep improving with every attempt. Every step forward, even if sometimes you fail - because trying and failing is still a step forward. If you continue trying, failing, succeeding, regardless of outcome, imagine where you'll be in 10 years. This is how you build a gap and move up - by trying.

The Film Camera Exercise

I practice this mindset with a $20 film camera that holds only 27 images. You take a photo but don't see how it looks - no screen, no instant feedback. You must take all 27 photos, then take the film to a lab for chemical processing.

Only then do you see all your images. The reward comes, but it's bigger and more lasting. You get memories that last longer than instantly seeing an iPhone photo.

This same principle applies elsewhere - exercise doesn't show immediate results, but after eight weeks you feel different. After three or four years of consistent improvement, the transformation is remarkable.

Keep focusing on improvement over instant gratification. If you need me, contact me. I'm here for you.