'HODL' or Marshmallows? Deferred Gratification, a helping hand toward a more successful life.

So, Marshmallows, who doesn't love a good marshmallow? Well, I'd assume - given the 8 billion-odd people currently wandering about the planet - lots of people. I guess it's a good job for me that this isn't really about marshmallows then.

It really is a lovely word to type though. Please give it a go, all mallow-eyy and light.. Marshmallow.

Anyway!

'The Stanford Marshmallow Experiment'.

It was 1972, and it was this lump of semi-gelatinous sugary-goodness that was chosen by Walter Mischel in his investigation into 'Deferred Gratification'. His findings - deemed pretty revolutionary at the time - suggested a link between an individual's ability to practice this form of self control, and the levels of success they would subsequently achieve in later life.

In this series of studies (the 'Stanford Marshmallow Experiment'), children were offered the choice between receiving one small reward immediately, or alternatively, two small rewards after waiting for a short-period of time. They were left alone in the room, one-on-one with the defenceless Marshmallow in question, could you resist the urge? Well, roughly a third of them did, waiting long enough to receive the second marshmallow as a reward for their patience - not a bad deal!

While their 100% increase in marshmallow wealth was no doubt ample reward in unto itself, the researcher's follow-up studies showed that this group of children seemed to possess something far more profound than s'mores. They were found to consistently out-perform their contemporaries on measures such as: SAT Scores, Educational achievement and BMI scores. This small characteristic seemingly had a consistently positive impact upon the children's future lives, why was it that this led to (on average) higher levels of physical, intellectual and academic achievement?

This message feels particularly well-placed on a platform such as this, linked so inextricably to all things Cryptocurrency. Instinctively I'm sure many of you can understand why this would be the case. Character traits such as impulsiveness, recklessness, a lack of patience, these things are not often viewed as positively conducive to a happy and healthy life. Sometimes we have to wait, think, play the long-game in order to get our extra metaphorical-marshmallows.

Deferred gratification is a skill, an ability which can be practised, honed. The ability to sit back and view the situation from a little ways back, take a breath and act with purpose and confidence in your own decisions. Perhaps it comes easier to some than others, but hey, life's a pain like that.

Whatever walk of life you come from, whatever challenges you may face, self-control such as this is always a useful tool to have in the back pocket.

As are a couple of marshmallows.

(Source information can be found at):

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_marshmallow_experiment
https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2014/09/what-the-marshmallow-test-really-teaches-about-self-control/380673/