Self-control and the boogie woogie sheep

Today I was reading an article by Jocelyn Glei on the 99% Behance website, in which she describes an 

experiment conducted by Stanford psychologist Walter Mischel. Mischel’s aim was determining the willingness to wait, or levels of “delayed gratification” within a group of four year olds. The children were each placed in a room with one, lonely looking marshmallow on a plate. They were then given the choice to either 1) gobble up the fluffy white treat that very instant, OR 2) wait patiently for an additional 15 minutes and be given TWO marshmallows. Several children agreed to the 15 minute waiting period, however many simply could not resist the temptation. There were, however, a number of children who were able to wait it out. This is what Mischel observed of the patient children:

"Instead of getting obsessed with the marshmallow -- the "hot stimulus" -- the patient children distracted themselves by covering their eyes, pretending to play hide-and-seek underneath the desk, or singing songs from "Sesame Street." Their desire wasn't defeated -- it was merely forgotten. "If you're thinking about the marshmallow and how delicious it is, then you're going to eat it," Mischel says. "The key is to avoid thinking about it in the first place." 

Ah. There it is. The trade-off game. The patient children believed the trade-off of spending an additional 15 minutes was larger than that of instantly gobbling up the single marshmallow. They weighed the outcome greater than the work involved, and therefore invested in not focusing on the easy way out. They stuck with their decision and took steps to attain the end goal.  But what is the clincher in the trade-off game? I agree with Glei in that it is the characteristic of self-control and the choice to apply it to goals, aspirations, and even mundane daily tasking. Everyone plays the trade-off game. Spend 30 minutes on twitter or 30 mins writing the report due tomorrow? Get McDonalds on the way home or spend an hour making dinner after a long day of work? However, when you apply the trade-off game and to our desire to achieve a certain level of productivity the real skill that aids us is self-control.

Self-control. The choice to stay in the game, instead of calling a timeout. Self-control. The choice to wake up an extra 30 mins to cook a real breakfast instead of sleeping in again. Self-control. The choice to push through the emotions of missing home and go to work in a foreign country. Self-control. The choice to commit to a project and see it through. Self-control. For me self-control is also knowing when to sit, breathe, relax, and regroup. This is necessary to reach the keep the vision alive, the passion flowing. Self-control. To say NO to adding yet one more task onto your to-do list until the others have been attended to. Self-control. Making myself write this blog even if no one reads it. 

Currently, I feel like a little kid singing "Sesame Street" songs under a desk pretending NOT to notice that I am desperately missing my family while here in India. Efforts are taken to stay busy in attempts of not noticing the marshmallow in front of me. So, sing along with me oh fellow Sesame Street watchers of old "Rubber ducky you're the one, you make bathtime so much fun..." and " C is for cookie" and Bert and Ernie  "I stretch and I yawn...dance myself to sleep...I hoof around my bedroom just tapping my toes". 

The trade-off is worth the wait. The "delayed gratification" of reaching June having had the opportunity to learn so much about a culture, people, and myself is indeed worth the wait. So sing along!