Powerful ideas from top nonfiction
Try Blinkist to get the key ideas from 5,500+ bestselling nonfiction titles and podcasts. Listen or read in just 15 minutes.
Start your free trial
Blink 3 of 8 - The 5 AM Club
by Robin Sharma
Listen to the Intro
The Road Less Traveled summary
M. Scott Peck
A New Psychology of Love, Traditional Values and Spiritual Growth
18 mins
Table of Contents
The Road Less Traveled
summarized in 8 key ideas
Audio & text in the Blinkist app
Key idea 1 of 8
Having a better life starts with practicing self-discipline and developing the habit of delayed gratification.
Let’s not mince words: life stinks. And the sooner you accept this, the better off you’ll be.
But don’t despair. It’s just a simple fact of life that each day comes with the possibility of a new set of problems, and, once you recognize this, you’ll be on your way to having a solution for these problems.
Most folks live with the delusion that life should be fair, pleasant or otherwise rosy. This outlook will only lead to disappointment. In contrast, understanding that life is inherently difficult will spur you to assemble the tools you’ll need to get by.
Along with this healthy perspective, the best tools you can have are those that help you practice self-discipline; and the first tool is getting familiar with delayed gratification.
No one likes to wait for something good when they could have it right away. Many of us would prefer to have dessert before dinner, and we tend to live our lives according to the same philosophy.
This way of life could be called “play now, pay later,” and the people who practice it aren’t necessarily dumb. They’re the sort of intelligent people who nevertheless manage to get bad grades because they’d rather skip class and have fun than deal with the boring business of studying. To put it another way, they’re controlled by their impulses.
Let’s say you struggle with procrastination. Who among us hasn’t tackled the easy work first and then spent the rest of the day struggling with the boring and difficult stuff?
The author had a patient with this exact problem, and he advised her to start practicing delayed gratification by reversing her work habits.
This meant bearing down and dealing with the difficult stuff first. So instead of facing one easy hour followed by six miserable hours of dragging her feet, she could have one miserable hour followed by the reward of six enjoyable hours.
Want to see all full key ideas from The Road Less Traveled?
Key ideas in The Road Less Traveled
More knowledge in less time
Read or listen
Get the key ideas from nonfiction bestsellers in minutes, not hours.
Find your next read
Get book lists curated by experts and personalized recommendations.
Shortcasts New
We’ve teamed up with podcast creators to bring you key insights from podcasts.
What is The Road Less Traveled about?
The Road Less Traveled (1978) is a personal and professional account of how you can live a more fulfilling life by practicing discipline and developing a better understanding of love, religion and grace. Certain pathways in life are less traveled because they’re more challenging, but, in this case, the path to enlightenment is also far more rewarding. Find out what steps you can take to grow and become a more balanced person.
Best quote from The Road Less Traveled
Delaying gratification is a process of scheduling the pain and pleasure of life...
—M. Scott Peck
Who should read The Road Less Traveled?
- Readers interested in self-improvement
- Students of psychology and religion
- People seeking a fresh perspective on spiritual growth
Categories with The Road Less Traveled
Books like The Road Less Traveled
People ❤️ Blinkist
Sven O.
It's highly addictive to get core insights on personally relevant topics without repetition or triviality. Added to that the apps ability to suggest kindred interests opens up a foundation of knowledge.
Thi Viet Quynh N.
Great app. Good selection of book summaries you can read or listen to while commuting. Instead of scrolling through your social media news feed, this is a much better way to spend your spare time in my opinion.
Jonathan A.
Life changing. The concept of being able to grasp a book's main point in such a short time truly opens multiple opportunities to grow every area of your life at a faster rate.
Renee D.
Great app. Addicting. Perfect for wait times, morning coffee, evening before bed. Extremely well written, thorough, easy to use.
People also liked
Start growing with Blinkist now
26 Million
Downloads on all platforms
4.7 Stars
Average ratings on iOS and Google Play
91%
Of Blinkist members create a better reading habit*
*Based on survey data from Blinkist customers