The Marshmallow Experiment, or How to Strengthen Willpower

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

There are people who have the amazing ability to get up at the first alarm and even go for a morning run regularly. They have no secret, they just developed willpower. And each of us can take the first steps in this direction.

Almost 50 years ago, the most famous experiment in the study of self-control was carried out, which marked the beginning of thousands of works devoted to the problem of the formation of willpower.

This experiment was called the marshmallow test.

Imagine that you are a four-year-old child, they put a marshmallow in front of you and offer the following deal: “I’ll go away for a while on business, and if you don’t eat this marshmallow, I will give you another one when you return”. Quite a daunting task for a four-year-old, won't you agree?

After the end of the experiment, these children were followed up for a long time until they graduated from high school (in total, it took from 12 to 14 years). Here are the results that the scientists ultimately got.

• Children who resisted temptation at age four turned out to be more outgoing, confident, and better able to cope with life's difficulties.
• During the learning process, the "resisted" could better formulate their thoughts and reason logically, as well as focus, make plans and monitor their implementation.
• In speech and mathematical testing, the “resisted” scored 15% more points on average.

Thus, after 15 years of research, the cornerstone of willpower has been identified. It consists in the ability to consciously suppress the impulse in order to achieve the goal. Moreover, it does not matter at all what scale your goal is: to get a second marshmallow, to improve your health, or to succeed in business.

This is the main control lever of this ability. Understanding the principle of its work, any person is able to repeatedly develop their volitional qualities with little effort.

Microwaves, or simple ways to find strength in yourself

The Roman emperor Marcus Aurelius wrote: "To understand something big, you need to understand small." In other words, in order to learn how to do serious volitional actions, for example, to quit smoking or to stop eating sweets, you must first practice on something less significant.

1. Meditate

Meditation is not about Buddhism, but about self-control. It allows you to learn how to track the simple impulses of our body at rest.

Sit upright on a chair, close your eyes and focus on breathing: inhale-exhale, inhale-exhale … (repeat to yourself).

At this moment, different thoughts will begin to overcome you, there will be a desire to rearrange your leg, scratch yourself, and so on. The point of meditation is to learn how to capture the impulsive orders of the brain and relegate them to the background.

Start small, and over time, you will begin to pay attention to more significant urges: to pick up a cigarette or eat a piece of cake. Just 5 minutes of meditation a day will help you train yourself to keep track of your desires and learn how to give them up.

2. Be precise

One of the key management rules says: "You can manage what you can count." To overcome a negative habit or develop a new one, record your desires in numbers. For example, decide that you will smoke no more than 5 cigarettes a day this week, or allow yourself dessert only 3 times.

Start with your norm, you may not even lower the bar. The main thing is that in the future, every week, try to gradually improve your result.

We often fail to notice how our habits spiral out of control at critical times. This method allows you to suppress the inner urge to go all out and soberly assess the situation.

3. Strong-willed break

When you feel that you are about to break, just take a break for 5-10 minutes.

No, at this time, you are unlikely to be suddenly overwhelmed by a surge of willpower. To do this, you need to remember why you even started to fight the habit and why it is so important to you.

Most of all, we are ready to change something when we honestly admit to ourselves why we need it. In such moments, be honest, and after 5-10 minutes you will be able to regain self-control.

Finally

There is a very wide range of tools that can help build willpower. The main thing to remember is that willpower is a muscle. Like any other muscle, it requires training, albeit small, but regular.

We all want to be able to make serious volitional decisions that can change our lives at a moment. But for this moment to last longer than a minute, a solid foundation for future change must be laid. And these simple exercises will help you with that.

Decide right now if you're ready to wait for your second marshmallow?

I wish you success!