Use 10-10-10 to see beyond impulse

Moments before you click “next episode,” your brain is craving instant dopamine. But you stop, raise an eyebrow, and ask, “How will I feel in ten minutes?” You picture your couch slump, groggy and bloated. Then you look ahead: ten hours, and you’ll be regretting that candy-bar overload; ten days, you’ll see that regret compounded in your scaling jeans. Suddenly your impulse loses appeal.

This method—10-10-10—was popularized by Suzy Welch and has roots in decision-time mismatch studies in psychology. It stretches the often short-sighted impulses of System 1 thinking into a System 2 sweep across time. Kids tempted by cookies gloss over the long snack-time crash; adults hasty to skip exercise miss the broader fitness gains. By making yourself bridge those temporal gaps, you harness reason over reflex.

You learn that a tiny pause can be catalytic. Next time your phone pings, you slip into that mental time machine. You feel the pull of delayed costs more strongly than the lure of immediate rewards. Your self-discipline—no longer a muscle you must flex in the present—becomes a film of foresight that ripples across your day.

In practice, you’ll master impulse control without raw willpower. Over weeks, decisions you once regretted become rare. You start to feel steadier, more in control, as each small choice aligns you with your long-term goals.

When the urge hits, grab a sticky note and write down what you want to do. Next, take a deep breath and imagine yourself ten minutes, ten hours, and ten days from now. Picture how you’ll feel—whether twinge of regret or a healthy surge of pride. Then follow through with the choice that stands you in better stead when tomorrow rolls around. Try it at your next impulse moment.