In the late sixties Stanford psychology professor Walter Mischel conducted a study to look at our ability to delay gratification.
In what has become known as the marshmallow test, four-year-olds were brought into a room, one at a time, and placed in front of a delicious marshmallow.
The instructions were clear. The child could eat the marshmallow if she pleased, or she could wait fifteen minutes and receive an additional marshmallow when the researcher returned.
Several children ate their fluffy treat immediately. Others waited as long as possible before giving in to temptation, while some kids were able to hold out for the entire fifteen minutes.
Watching the antics of young child doing anything to avoid eating the marshmallow is enough to bring a smile to any parents face (you can watch an updated version of the marshmallow test here on YouTube).
Follow-up studies decades later revealed that the children who successfully delayed gratification were also more successful later on in life. These children exhibited better social interactions, were generally healthier, and enjoyed greater academic success. Their SAT scores, for instance, were 210 points higher than the scores of their counterparts who had eaten their marshmallows almost immediately.
This same self-discipline is also crucial for financial success.
Think about it. All of us are constantly taking the marshmallow test.
Should we leave the store or put the soft leather handbag on our credit card?
Should we save for a down payment on the new home or take out a second loan to cover it?
Should we shell out $800 for the new iPad or use it to purchase Apple stock instead?
Should we keep our current five-year-old car or jump to buy a new one?
Inevitably, the ability to delay gratification significantly increases our chances of becoming financially independent.
The good news is that self-discipline and the ability to delay gratification can be cultivated.
So how do we nurture this crucial ability in our kids?
Make self-control part of your family’s routine. It can be as simple as requiring your kids to save their allowance for the toys or video games they want to purchase. Perhaps you implement strict hours for playing video games or watching television. When children understand that they can’t do everything they want, when they want, it helps builds self-discipline.
Even restricting when your child can eat helps build self-discipline. As illustrated by Pamela Druckerman, author of Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting, the French have a great way of fostering self-control by allowing kids to only eat during meals and during one snack time a day. There is no going into the fridge anytime they feel like it.
Raising kids that are able to delay gratification today will produce the financial superstars of tomorrow.
BMWK, could your kids pass the marshmallow test? What are some of the ways you foster self-control in your children?