From the course: Management Tips

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The art of delayed gratification

The art of delayed gratification

From the course: Management Tips

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The art of delayed gratification

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We seem to have developed a society very addicted to instant gratification. That's not all bad, but it has created a situation where we've lost an understanding of delayed gratification. That's actually a very important life, and career, skill. In fact, a classic piece of research examined the relationship between the ability to delay gratification, and various life outcomes. These were the famous Stanford marshmallow experiments, led by psychologist Walter Mischel. In the experiments, children were offered a choice. They were offered a very desired treat, a big marshmallow, and were told that if they wanted to, they could eat the marshmallow immediately. They were also told, that if they would wait for a few minutes, and not eat the marshmallow while the researcher leaves the room to complete another task, they would be rewarded, upon the return of the researcher, with another marshmallow. They could have one now, or two in just a few minutes. As you might guess, some of the kids had…

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