I want to talk about delayed gratification. I’m in a very beautiful and expensive hotel. The crowd gathered, I spoke, and the hall erupted. I began reflecting on my life. I’ve talked about hardship before, and I’ve been impressed to speak on delayed gratification.
Delayed gratification is delaying rewarding yourself for what you have achieved, knowing that there is a greater future ahead that you are working towards.
It is not just deprivation. If it is only deprivation, then you are merely being frugal or prudent. Delayed gratification is purposeful.
I was buying books when I had only two pairs of shoes. I was reading a lot when I could have been sleeping. At night, instead of sleeping, I read. I wrote many books over the years. If you enter a room in my house, it is filled with books. I deprived myself of sleep to write those books. Today, those books are generating income for me.
Paul said, “Forgetting what is behind, I press forward toward the mark of the higher calling.” I could have been satisfied as a Sunday School superintendent or a men’s fellowship leader, but I had a greater vision. I could have been satisfied just being a medical doctor, but I was not. I did not gratify myself at that level. I was looking ahead and paying the price to reach where I am today.
If you know how much a meal costs in this hotel, it will shock you. And you already know how much people paid to attend that event. The energy and intellectual input I invested in my life to reach this level are now very rewarding.
Put your eyes far ahead of where you are.
Don’t settle for the little things around you. I lived in the same house with three or four girls. I never spoke to any of them in that way. I could have gratified my desires, but I was seeing a bigger future.
Don’t go for things that give you immediate gratification. I once asked my elder son why he was not following any of the girls around him. When he finished medical school in 2012, he told me:
“If I settle for any of these ones now, what if I meet a better person in the future?” Many young people ruin their future trying to satisfy temporary desires. Delay it. You will outgrow it.
I had very few clothes, but I had many books. I was investing in the future. Now, to children of so-called rich people:
Your father’s wealth is not your wealth until it is handed over to you. If you are carried away by what your father has achieved and you are not thinking of growing it, you are not wise. If all you think about is enjoyment—clothes, parties, trips, girlfriends—you are not thinking.
There was a man who died tragically. His son came from the United States and took over the business. He could have lived extravagantly, but he calmed down, saw a bigger future, and expanded the business.
If you don’t have the desire to make your father’s business better, and all you think about is what to inherit and enjoy, you are not being wise.
I have seen many people like that. In the future, they end up begging from the children of those their fathers once helped. If you are abroad—UK, US, Canada, Italy, Germany—and you think you are making money, taking pictures, and sending them home, be careful.
Before you return, people here in Nigeria may have moved far ahead of you.
Don’t squander your money. You work hard for that money. Save. Think of a future business. Think long-term.
And if you are a child living abroad and misbehaving because your parents seem comfortable, understand this: some of those cars are not fully paid for, and some of those houses are still on mortgage.
Think of a greater future. Delay gratification. Invest in yourself. Build capacity.
That is the path to lasting success.
God bless you.
