Palm Springs, Symantec and Marshmellows

I am in Palm Springs at a Symantec conference. It is HOT. 114 degrees which is 42 Celcius! even tonight at the recption at 7:30, it was hot. Needless to say, I did not run outside and the 4 miles I ran inside almost killed me.

I was speaking to my daughter Laura today about debt, managing finances etc. (and no she has no problems). I brought up the fact that people who think long term and people who can delay gratification tend to be more successful. We respect people with a PhD because we know they put in a lot of hours and delayed their gratification (of course truly successful people would enjoy the experience along the way but that is another Blog topic.).

I am very long term. If I ever have a disagreement with my people, it tends to be when people are thinking too short term.

I read a book recently called "The 5 Lessons A Millionaire Taught Me About Life and Wealth"
by Richard Paul Evans. He retold the marshmellow story below:


"The Marshmallow Experiment
A group of scientists created an experiment to test emotional intelligence. They told four-year-old children that they could have one marshmallow now or, if they could wait while the researchers ran an errand, they could have two. They then placed marshmallows in front of the children and left the room. Some of the children waited for the second marshmallow, while others immediately devoured the one in front of them. The follow-up research was most fascinating.

Those children who could delay gratification “generally grew up to be better adjusted, more popular, adventurous, confident and dependable”. Those who couldn’t were more likely to be lonely, easily frustrated and stubborn. They buckled under stress and shied away from challenges?

In addition those who could delay gratification also scored an average of 210 points higher on the SATs."

Just food for thought.