Delaying Gratification for the Win

“Patience is a virtue” my father would always say to me. If you think about it, patience truly is a virtue. Oftentimes, we want things now. That is not the way the world works. 

Those that want instant gratification often end up on the wrong side of the stick. It is time to think about delaying gratification for the win. Let’s delay our gratification and make tomorrow a better day.

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The Marshmallow experiment

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In the 1960s, Scientist Walter Mischel was doing experiments at Stanford University to test how instant gratification affects children. He came up with an experiment called the Marshmallow Experiment.

This is no ordinary experiment. He sits a kid in front of a plate with one marshmallow. The kid is told that if he can wait 15 minutes without eating it, the kid will get 2 marshmallows. Some kids ate the marshmallow right after the researcher closed the doors. While others squirmed and withheld their desire, until finally collapsing to temptation after a few minutes. There were a few that held out til the end, they were rewarded the second marshmallow. 

What is Instant Gratification?

Let’s first take a look at the results of instant gratification. Instant gratification is the desire to experience pleasure and fulfillment without delay. This is all about pleasure. 

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The problem with this thinking is that it prevents people from making proper sound decisions and therefore they may not have saved enough money for their future retirement or even future expenses. 

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Let’s Talk about Delayed Gratification:

In the Marshmallow experiment, the researchers followed up with the students later in life. Some of their findings were quite surprising.  After 40 years, they have found that the ones that delayed their gratification were succeeding in life in every capacity. 

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