The Marshmallow Test

written by JOSH GESSNER | The Curious Competitor

Let's go back in time.

Imagine yourself as a 5 year old.

If someone gave you a marshmallow and said:

• You can eat it now

• Or you can wait and get 2

Which one would you pick?

In 1960 a Stanford professor put hundreds of kids through this exact test.

The test began with bringing kids into a private room.

Once they sit down, they place a marshmallow in front of them.

The researcher then gives them a choice:

1) Eat the marshmallow now

2) Or wait till they come back, and get 2 marshmallows.

The researcher then leaves for 15 minutes.

What happened?

• Some kids immediately ate the marshmallow.

• Others tried to restrain themselves, but eventually gave in.

• A small percentage managed to wait the entire 15 minutes.

The fascinating finding came years later:

The researchers followed these kids for 40 years as they grew up.

What they found shocked them:

The kids who waited for their second marshmallow:

• Had better SAT scores

• Lower likelihood of obesity

• Better social skills

• Generally more successful

Than the kids who couldn't resist.

Multiple studies conducted have found this to be true:

"The 4-year-old children who delayed gratification longer developed into more cognitively and socially competent adolescents, achieving higher scholastic performance and coping better with frustration and stress."

But why?

The Power of Delayed Gratification

Delayed gratification is resisting an immediately available reward:

To obtain a better reward in the future.

We see this play out in all aspects of life:

Investing:

If we're able to resist the urge to spend now, and instead invest:

We see compound returns on our money.

Fitness:

If we're able to resist the comfort of our home and instead go workout:

We develop stronger and healthier bodies.

Learning:

If we're able to resist procrastinating and instead go study:

We're able to learn more.

To be clear, for those of us who would've eaten the marshmallow as a 4~5 yr old:

We're not doomed forever.

The marshmallow test just shows the importance of delayed gratification.

As @naval says:

"Play long term games with long term people"

"All the benefits in life come from compound interest - relationship, money, habits - anything of importance."

Delayed gratification allows for us to play long term games and let compounding take over.

Let's cover how get better at delayed gratification:

Start small.

• Invest a small amount every month.

• Workout for 30 mins

• Read 5 pages a day

By exercising our delayed gratification muscle, we gradually become better.

Enjoy the daily inputs.

If we can genuinely enjoy the daily inputs that lead to our delayed gratification goal:

• Investing

• Working Out

• Learning

Delayed gratification becomes a byproduct of following our passions.

The most ideal situation.

But don't go overboard...

Extreme delayed gratification is no gratification.

If we delay gratification too much, we can fall into The Arrival Fallacy.

We need to decide what is worth delaying, and what is meant to be enjoyed, right now.

https://x.com/GessnerJosh/status/1767543870038876396?s=20

Main Lessons:

• Delayed gratification is an essential ingredient for success.

• It's a muscle and a skill that can be trained.

• Don't go overboard: Enjoy what's meant to be enjoyed in this present moment.