Rob 747
18th Jul 2001, 16:43
“During the 1960’s an interesting experiment was conducted with most conclusive and revealing results. On the Stamford University Campus, Psychologist Dr Walter Mischel tested a class of four-year olds and then tracked them periodically through their lives.
The experiment itself was simple. The class of youngsters were presented with a single marshmallow each by their teacher and then given a choice. They could have another marshmallow upon his return if they waited patiently for him to do an errand.
Alternatively, they could have only that one marshmallow, but they could have it now if they didn’t want to wait. They were left alone in the room then with their single marshmallow while the teacher left the room for fifteen minutes. Some children covered their eyes or sung to distract themselves, while others gave in and simply ate the marshmallow.
Those children that still had not eaten their marshmallow upon the teacher’s return, were rewarded with a second. Many years later, the children that had waited were compared to those that hadn’t and the results were dramatic. Those that had waited were generally far more successful in every aspect of their lives.
It’s not too late for you to adopt a new concept in the way you live in order to get you to your goal.
I call this concept ‘pleasure postponement’.
In other words, the ability to delay indulging yourself today so that you may indulge yourself twice as much tomorrow.
An example of pleasure postponement is that of full-time study for a qualification to further your career- it may mean that in the short-term you are not as well-off as your counterparts who are in employment, but in the long-term, you will be better off than them because of your studies.
Successful people are disciplined. To get to where they are, they temporarily postponed certain pleasures to create even more pleasure in the future. That future comes round quicker than you may think and those disciplined people who are able to keep their hands off the single marshmallow, are soon able to enjoy their two marshmallow reward.
Meanwhile, those that chose to simply grab the marshmallow as soon as it was offered, look in envy at the ‘lucky’ people with two marshmallows and become bitter about this (as an aside, they then probably vote for politicians that offer to steal marshmallows by force from people with 'too many' and redistribute them).
You need to have the clarity and focus to see this through without giving in to pressure. When you see friends and family buying new cars and clothes etc, will you be able to resist not joining in? Or do you have the depth of character to think single-mindedly about the long-term goal?
The majority of people have such little personal power, the only way they can cheer up their dreary lives is to spend money (usually borrowed money) on a load of consumer junk for comfort that will no doubt be found on the scrap-heap or a car-boot sale soon after. When I think about the thousands of pounds I wasted in this way I could cry......
You see, once you start to live a fulfilled and happy life doing the things you actually want to, you won’t need the comforting that buying loads of consumer junk gives you.
It is one of life’s little ironies that many of our trivial longings and so-called pleasures are substitutes for deeper longings.”
I am not the Author of this!!!, but it is very uplifting though, dont you think? :D :D :D
The experiment itself was simple. The class of youngsters were presented with a single marshmallow each by their teacher and then given a choice. They could have another marshmallow upon his return if they waited patiently for him to do an errand.
Alternatively, they could have only that one marshmallow, but they could have it now if they didn’t want to wait. They were left alone in the room then with their single marshmallow while the teacher left the room for fifteen minutes. Some children covered their eyes or sung to distract themselves, while others gave in and simply ate the marshmallow.
Those children that still had not eaten their marshmallow upon the teacher’s return, were rewarded with a second. Many years later, the children that had waited were compared to those that hadn’t and the results were dramatic. Those that had waited were generally far more successful in every aspect of their lives.
It’s not too late for you to adopt a new concept in the way you live in order to get you to your goal.
I call this concept ‘pleasure postponement’.
In other words, the ability to delay indulging yourself today so that you may indulge yourself twice as much tomorrow.
An example of pleasure postponement is that of full-time study for a qualification to further your career- it may mean that in the short-term you are not as well-off as your counterparts who are in employment, but in the long-term, you will be better off than them because of your studies.
Successful people are disciplined. To get to where they are, they temporarily postponed certain pleasures to create even more pleasure in the future. That future comes round quicker than you may think and those disciplined people who are able to keep their hands off the single marshmallow, are soon able to enjoy their two marshmallow reward.
Meanwhile, those that chose to simply grab the marshmallow as soon as it was offered, look in envy at the ‘lucky’ people with two marshmallows and become bitter about this (as an aside, they then probably vote for politicians that offer to steal marshmallows by force from people with 'too many' and redistribute them).
You need to have the clarity and focus to see this through without giving in to pressure. When you see friends and family buying new cars and clothes etc, will you be able to resist not joining in? Or do you have the depth of character to think single-mindedly about the long-term goal?
The majority of people have such little personal power, the only way they can cheer up their dreary lives is to spend money (usually borrowed money) on a load of consumer junk for comfort that will no doubt be found on the scrap-heap or a car-boot sale soon after. When I think about the thousands of pounds I wasted in this way I could cry......
You see, once you start to live a fulfilled and happy life doing the things you actually want to, you won’t need the comforting that buying loads of consumer junk gives you.
It is one of life’s little ironies that many of our trivial longings and so-called pleasures are substitutes for deeper longings.”
I am not the Author of this!!!, but it is very uplifting though, dont you think? :D :D :D