The 1970s Stanford marshmallow experiment did happen, and early follow‑ups did find that kids who waited longer tended (on average) to have better later outcomes like test scores and BMI. But the test itself was flawed, and the results misleading. Because the test was carried out with a very small, unusually privileged group of children at Stanford’s nursery school. Later studies much larger and more diverse samples found that the “marshmallow effect” is much weaker and mostly explained by background factors such as family income, parental education, and home stability. A 2018 replication (about 900 kids) showed that once you account for socioeconomic background and parenting, the marshmallow waiting time predicts very little about life outcomes by age 15. A follow-up in 2020 of the original Bing Nursery School kids into their 40s found no meaningful relationship between how long they waited and adult outcomes like wealth, education, or health. What this means in practical terms is that while delayed gratification can be important, it is not a reliable indicator of you or your child’s future. Phew, that’s a relief. As far as I’m concerned, instant gratification takes too long. Unfortunately, when it comes to online success, the gratification is always delayed. We don’t get to choose that. It’s just the way the Internet and compounding works. So what we have to do is get our gratification from getting a web page built, and email sent, or something done that will bring traffic. When we give ourselves little rewards for getting small, but important, steps done we are more likely to keep doing those things. Small steps compound up and down the staircase. And that’s what brings the bigger gratification. One thing that I’ve been doing with surprising results is using the Kaizen Coach to help me keep doing those small steps. That daily email reminder has been invaluable. Eat the marshmallow, and while you’re enjoying that, go here. https://link.ckv.to/kaizen-coach. Regards, |
