The Marshmallow Experiment: How Self-Control Shapes Our Future
Success is no accident.
It’s not like we’re going to crack some secret code to get rich; it depends on what we do every day.
If every day we head towards success, we’re likely to get there faster, rather than getting caught up in every distraction we come across.
This is what Walter Mischel, a psychologist from Stanford University, showed in his famous study called the Marshmallow Experiment.
He found that self-control affects the future success of individuals.
The Marshmallow Experiment
In 1960, Walter Mischel and his team collected 600 kids aged 4–5 from Bing Nursery School and put them in a room with a table full of tempting treats, like marshmallows, oreo cookies, and pretzel sticks.
They gave each kid a simple instruction,
“You can eat this marshmallow now, or you can wait 15 minutes and get another reward.”
Simply put, each kid could either eat the food immediately and fail the test or finish the test by waiting 15 minutes more to receive another reward.
With that, they left the room with a hidden camera, observing what happened.
As time passed, there were kids who ate the marshmallow immediately, others who tried to resist the temptation but failed, and the remaining third who managed to wait until the end.
The study wasn’t done yet.
After the test was finished, Mischel followed these kids’ lives for decades, observing their health, school, and career.
He found that the kids who were able to finish the marshmallow test have a better life. They have better academic SAT scores and are less likely to face life problems like obesity, alcohol, and drug abuse.
Even after 40 years, the conclusion remains the same.
The Power of Self-Control
The takeaway from that experiment is that self-control can predict our success. The more we have it, the more likely we are to succeed.
When we take a look back into our lives, a lack of self-control can drown us in self-gratification behaviors, like scrolling through social media, playing video games, and partying.
Many people have already been beaten by the reality of normal life. If we want to achieve our big dream, it’s no joke.
Even in a normal, busy, and overwhelming life, we don’t have much time for unnecessary things. Success means we need to train our brains to do hard things.
How to Strengthen Our Self-Control
Our brain has two parts that are responsible for self-control: the prefrontal cortex and the limbic system.
The prefrontal cortex is the logical part, telling us to resist the temptation of instant gratification. However, the limbic system is emotional and often chooses pleasure over pain, regardless of future consequences.
Most of the time, our limbic system takes over the brain because it’s naturally more developed and stronger. But we can regain control by making the brain perform better.
1. Delay Gratification
Instead of eliminating the behavior, delaying is better.
When we have a lack of self-control, we will either procrastinate first or alternately in the day. But that isn’t effective because our energy decreases as time goes on.
Better to work early, procrastinate later.
When we still have energy, we can perform mentally better. Our limbic system won’t take over the brain. So, we get things done more efficiently.
2. Reduce Exposure to Instant Gratification
Delaying gratification can be hard if we’re exposed to distractions. Put your phone away while working so there won’t be emails, YouTube, and Instagram notifications.
Distractions are now harder to deal with than ever.
There will always be new media and creators competing with each other, trying to hook, clickbait, and engage us.
If we don’t guard ourselves, we will easily lose control of our lives.
3. Optimize Energy
The more energy we have, the better we perform, either physically or mentally. We would be able to make better decisions.
Follow these healthy habits to gain more energy:
· Exercise 3–5 times a week
· Sleep 7–8 hours a day
· Stay hydrated
· Eat healthily with high nutrition
My Final Thought
Achieving success is not a game. We need to work hard and resist the temptation of instant gratification.
Our brain is not to be trusted at the first place, as it prefers pleasure over pain most of the time.
It can be much harder to deal with when we are mentally fragile. So, we need to be strategic with our energy.
Work whenever we should, protect attention, and optimize energy.
Working towards success is hard; regretting our inaction is also hard. After all, life is about hardship and suffering.
Either hard now or later, it’s all our choice.
Thank you so much for reading this far. I hope the message is clear and helpful.
Do you have another strategy to strengthen self-control? Let me know your thoughtful perspective in the comment section.
