On November 27, 2000, David Blaine attempted to sit in a block of ice for 72 hours.
He failed, as he was able to do only 63 hours, 42 minutes and 15 seconds, which is still a pretty impressive feat to pull off.
So, how did David Blaine last that long?
I have a simple theory.
David Blaine knew that if he demonstrated that he had a rare skill, the world will deem him as valuable and he could increase his chances of earning millions of dollars over the course of his life.
So, in Blaine’s mind, he pretty much had two choices:
(1) Do what everybody is doing and remain just another ordinary, broke performer running helter-skelter in order to make ends meet, or;
(2) Try your hands at something notorious and reap the rewards of infamy.
David Blaine chose the latter option and it was rational for him to do so.
As he sat there in the ice, with all the cameras and Times Square pedestrians looking on, Blaine continued to persevere because he valued the fame and wealth in the future, more than the pain and discomfort in the present.
He kept on pushing the limits of his body. Minute after minute. Hour after hour. Day after day for nearly 3 days. All these without blinking his eyes for a second of sleep!
David Blaine went that far because he did not have one thing that many of us have in abundance when we are trying to pursue our goals.
That one thing is called delay discounting!
Delay discounting is the tendency most of us have when we downplay a reward we want for the simple fact that it is in the future and not immediately available.
The vast majority of people prefer healthier and trimmer bodies to beer bellies and love handles, right? Unfortunately, the gustatory reward of the cookies, soda, and sugary stuff in the present is valued more than the reward of having a fit body six months down the line.
In the same vein, many people prefer to have more money saved in their bank accounts. Yet, the reward derived from splurging funds on another piece of jewelry they don’t need is valued higher than the reward of financial stability in the future.
People who exhibit delay discounting, exhibit a malaise which I call the Esau Syndrome, named after Esau who valued an immediate plate of food more than his strategic position as the firstborn in his household.
So, how can you pull off a David Blaine and defeat delay discounting, even as you cure yourself of Esau’s Syndrome? The secret can be found in how you choose to interpret difficulties.
See Difficulties as Important for Defeating Delay Discounting
If you’ve held an ice cube in your hand, you know how uncomfortable it is. Now, imagine how much physical. physiological and psychological distress David Blaine must have been in as he sat in a block of ice for hours.
Yet, David Blaine saw the difficulties of his present reality as an important ingredient that will transform him from just an ordinary performer into an exceptional one.
As I’ve said in a previous post, the way options are framed goes a long way in determining behavior.
In a study, college students who interpreted difficult experiences in school as a sign of its importance were willing to sacrifice more to attain their academic goals. Needless to say, those who interpreted difficulty as impossibility were not as willing.
Similarly, your decision to remind yourself of the importance of those difficult goal-oriented choices will prove beneficial to you in the long run. Stop framing beneficial habits such as saving, eating healthier or exercising as impossible. Rather, start seeing them as a vital ingredient for the results you want.
Overcome Delay Discounting by Interpreting Difficulties as the Path
David Blaine continued to sit in the ice – immune to delay discounting – because he saw the feat as the path to the fame and wealth he wanted.
It’s one thing to just mentally acknowledge that an act as important for a result you want. If you are serious about results, you need to see the act as the path towards your endgame – fitter body, more income, completed bestselling book, whatever it might be.
In this study, an African American student was asked what it meant to be an African American male. In response, he said,
“To be an African American means to me being strong, intelligent, and very proud of where I came from. Many African Americans have been successful and I plan to be the same way.”
The quoted student, as well as other African American students who gave similar responses, did better in a difficult math test when compared to other students who gave other responses.
The implication is obvious. Participants who perceived themselves as strong, intelligent and proud African Americans were likely to see difficult academic challenges as a path towards maintaining their cultural identities. It is the same reason that Asians seem to be highly proficient in their schoolwork. They interpret the difficulty as the path to reinforcing their identities.
You will defeat delay discounting when you start interpreting your challenges as the path that will link the present ‘you’ with your desired future ‘you’.
Overcome Delay Discounting with Episodic Future Thinking
As David Blaine sat in the ice, I’m sure he engaged in some form of visualization as he savored the fame and fortune his feat was going to earn him. He was able to find a way to enjoy his future rewards, even as he was in severe discomfort in the present.
Researchers from the School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at the University of Buffalo observed that people who were encouraged to think about future, positive events turned out to be less impulsive than participants who didn’t get such kind of encouragement. The study also reported that participants in the former group were less likely to spend money on calorie-dense fast foods when compared to the control.
What’s the point in all these?
If you are serious about defeating delay discounting, finding a way to periodically think and remind yourself about your goals is essential. There are a number of ways you can do this. For instance, I’ve written extensively on the power of journaling every day. When you journal, the most important things in your life are brought to the forefront of your mind. As a result, you are able to easily recall them when the temptations to choose immediate small results present themselves.
Conclusion
Your decision to undervalue future rewards and overvalue present rewards is limiting you. The good news is that there’s a way out, and you do not need to sit in ice like David Blaine to crush delay discounting and the Esau Syndrome in your life. You can start the journey towards a fuller life by making the decision to change the frames with which you look at difficulty, while also bringing your long-term goals to the front of your mind from time to time.