Follow-up studies found that children who were willing to wait longer for rewards tended to have better scores in later life when it came to measurements including SAT scores, educational attainment and body mass index (BMI).

For a lasting sense of wellbeing, we need to override the impulse for immediate gratification, Frank says.

“You ought to take a longer view of what counts, but that’s where people have consistent difficulty: giving sufficient weight to things that occur not now but in the future.”

Using your toolkit

Impulsivity makes reflective, logical action, and self-control difficult for most people. Although Corrigan says we have what we need to control those impulses.

Our brains are equipped with what we need to feel content and happy if we focus on feelings of gratitude and compassion, she says, without having to resort to buying anything.

David DeSteno, a professor of psychology at Northeastern University in Boston, has spent decades researching the effects that positive emotions have on decision making and his research suggests that simply feeling grateful can change how we act.

In his Social Emotions Lab, DeSteno offered participants the choice between being given $30 immediately or $70 in three weeks’ time. When people were primed with feelings of gratitude, they were able to override the desire for instant gratification and chose the latter option.