…Joachim de Posada, a motivational speaker, replicated a piece of a decades-old Stanford University study of 4 year olds who were asked to resist eating a marshmallow. If these children did resist temptation, they would not only get another marshmallow upon the reseacher’s return to the room, they would demonstrate statistically how delayed gratification leads to future success, achievement and other goodies in life as they aged through high school into college in this longitudinal study. You can view de Posada’s podcast on Ted.com, a wonderful resource.
The tape contains hilarious footage, particularly of one minx who literally inhales the marshmallow into her body and then tries to fool the adults around her from noticing that she’s bitten into it. Anyone who works with children, lives with children, or who has been a child can identify with these urges.
More than that, however, is the implication that demonstrating the “Will “to resist temptation – to hold out for a bigger, more important reward – underlies many of our human endeavors. It is “Will” that underscores our drive to succeed, to prove ourselves, to live with passion, courage and deep love. The only way to foster this “Will” in our children is to demonstrate it to them through our actions and choices on a daily basis. You can’t teach “Will” in a classroom setting, merely talk about using it, or have children learn it from reading a book. The “Will” to assert ourselves through our decisions, emotions and behaviors is our choice to make, every glorious or terrible moment of every day.
Although there are circumstances that prevent a human being from using that “Will” – through disease, mental incapacitation, etc. – we