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I first heard of the test from Emotional Intelligence by Daniel Goleman. The marshmallow test was conducted by Walter Mischel. He would test four year-old children to see if they could not eat a marshmallow that was one the table before them. The results of the test came out ten and twenty years later when they found that the children who had self control and resisted eating the marshmallow were successful in almost every facet of their lives.
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Now and then Janine and I talk about how to help our children pass the marshmallow test.
I like Lili Anderson's ideas on Teaching Your Kids to Delay Gratification. She has six basic steps:
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1) Help children articulate and visualize the benefits.
2) Help children keep the focus that as they grow up, they will be the ones to choose whether or not they can enjoy the great benefits and successes available to those who delay gratification.
3) Help children become more tolerant of discomfort. THIS IS HUGE.
4) Teach children that the discomfort of delaying gratification is temporary.
5) Teach children that the temporary discomfort of delaying gratification is a sign that their mind is being retrained and their comfort zone is being expanded.
6) Give lots of encouragement along the way and celebrate the victories.
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If you want to help your children learn to pass the marshmallow test, check out Lili Anderson's post.
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2 comments:
Great post! This is very important to teach our kids.
Thanks for posting!
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