Are your decisions driven by strategy, or by a primal need for a "quick win"? This is Immediate Gratification in the boardroom—a psychological conspiracy that causes smart leaders to prioritise quarterly spikes over long-term dominance. We call this the "Boardroom Marshmallow Test."

In this episode, we expose the three cognitive forces that hijack your judgment: Present Bias, Immediate Gratification, and the Instant Return Bias. We analyse how these "conspirators" turn business leaders into short-term thinkers, leading to the "painkiller effect" where we treat symptoms rather than solving core problems.

Key Insights:

• The Primal Scream: Why your brain demands "revenue now" at the expense of profit later.
• Present Bias: The cognitive flaw that treats your future self like a stranger you don't care about.
• The ROI Delusion: How we use "business logic" to justify impatience.
• The Painkiller Effect: Why we choose flashy marketing campaigns over deep strategy.

Every time you choose the immediate reward, you aren't just making a decision; you are training yourself to be shortsighted, giving up sustainable growth for short-term relief. It's time to stop burning your future to warm up the present.

UNLOCK THE STRATEGIST’S EDGE

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Download here: https://www.erinandreacraske.com/strategy-toolkit

IN THIS EPISODE

00:00 The Boardroom Marshmallow Test (Intro)

01:35 The Three Conspirators: Robbing Your Future

01:37 Conspirator 1: Immediate Gratification (The Primal Scream)

02:38 Conspirator 2: Present Bias (The Cognitive Sleight of Hand)

04:18 Conspirator 3: Instant Return Bias (The ROI Delusion)

05:25 How The Cycle Works

06:30 Monday Morning in the Boardroom

09:49 When Your Brain Catches Fire: The Results

11:20 The "Painkiller Effect": Solving the Wrong Problems

12:12 Organisational Contagion: When Bias Becomes Culture

13:32 The Deeper Game: How This Bleeds into Life

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Time to set yourself free!

ABOUT UNBOUND MIND

UNBOUND MIND confronts the prisons of our own making: Stress, Struggle, Suffering, and Stuckness.

We operate on one radical truth: the psychological traps that sink businesses are the exact same traps that screw your life and your mental health.

Here, we dissect the cognitive biases, flawed cultural narratives, and comfortable lies that keep you trapped. This isn't about easy, ego-soothing answers. It's about giving you the tools of provocative thinking to reclaim your power, forge resilience, and achieve true cognitive freedom.

This channel is a toolkit for leaders, thinkers, and anyone ready to take responsibility for their own mind.

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