Posts Tagged ‘child’

This is something that has been bothering me for some time now. There is constant talk about the large population of elderly Japanese and a shrinking birth rate unable to support the economy. This can already be seen through the country. It is getting easier and easier to find jobs (for people who want them), Schools are having difficulty filling their desks, and not much is being done to accommodate foreigners. So my question is, why are mansions (large apartment buildings) still going up at such an amazing rate? I get at least 2-3 new apartment advertisements in my mailbox everyday.

I don’t yet know the answer, but I am guessing it has to do with Japanese building companies unable to slow down and adapt to the market. America is in a housing slump now….will Japan be follwing shortly? The problem may even be compounded as children began to move back home to take care of their parents or move in after the parents pass away. I still haven’t figured it out. Everyone I ask seems to agree, but thinks it is just as mystrious as me. I guess time will tell.

Could the ability to restrain yourself from eating one marshmallow make a difference between struggling through life and the ability to retire wealthy and early? Yes it can, according to a study done in the the 1960′s by Stanford University psychology researcher, Michael Mischel. The study tested 4-year old children’s ability to delay gratification. The researcher then placed a marshmallow in front of the child and gave him/her two options. The child could eat the marshmallow, or he/she could wait until the doctor came back from an errand and the child would receive two marshmallows. Only 1/3 of the children were able to wait until the researcher returned. I read the story in the book Influencer: The power to Change Anything (a book I would highly recommend by the way), but you can also find more details on the story here.

I know, it doesn’t really seem like a big deal right. Well, they followed these kids into their adulthood and it turned out that the children who were able to delay gratification and wait for the second marshmallow were more successful, had high paying jobs, and tended to be more happy people than the ones who choose to eat the marshmallow. Think about it. The ability to delay gratification means you can save and invest when others are spending money on various things they don’t really need, you can control what you eat, make yourself exercise, push yourself through school when others are partying. This one small behavior has the ability to completely change your life. I know, it is much harder than I make it sound. Luckily, according to the book, Influencer, this behavior can be learned. Since the two books have a lot of similar ideas, I would also encourage you to read Made to Stick.

However, in some cases it really is simple. Most people give up on investing and even saving because they feel it is too difficult. But put in the context of the marshmallow story, finance and investing is really not eating one marshmallow so you can have two. You don’t spend your money, put it in some type of investment, and then it becomes more. The behavior that has to change is the “not spending” part. But, as i mentioned in an earlier post, it gets much easier once you get used to it.

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• one marshmallow, or two? – the marshmallow study, conducted in the 1960’s by stanford university psychology researcher michael mischel,. demonstrated how important self-discipline is to lifelong success. he started his longitudinal study by offering a group of …
• The Marshmellow Test – [Editor’s note: This is an op-ed by Perry Wu, chief executive of BitGravity, a content distribution company, a long-time entrepreneur and former venture capitalist.] I was up in the mountains this past weekend, watching the kids run …