40 Years of Stanford Research Found That People With This One Quality Are More Likely to Succeed

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Sep 18, 2023
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40 Years of Stanford Research Found That People With This One Quality Are More Likely to Succeed
Success is something that many of us strive for. Whether it's in our careers, relationships, or personal goals, we all want to achieve greatness. But what is the secret to success? Is it intelligence? Talent? Luck? According to a groundbreaking study conducted by researchers at Stanford University, the key to success lies in one's ability to delay gratification.
In the study, children were given a choice - they could either eat one marshmallow now, or wait for a short period of time and receive two marshmallows. The children who were willing to delay gratification and wait for the second marshmallow ended up having higher SAT scores, lower levels of substance abuse, lower likelihood of obesity, better responses to stress, better social skills as reported by their parents, and generally better scores in a range of other life measures.
The ability to delay gratification is a powerful predictor of success. It teaches us the value of patience, self-control, and discipline. Success usually comes down to choosing the pain of discipline over the ease of distraction. And that’s exactly what delayed gratification is all about.
But how do we cultivate this ability to delay gratification? The researchers discovered that every time a promise was made and then delivered upon, the child's brain registered two things: 1) waiting for gratification is worth it and 2) I have the capability to wait. This suggests that delayed gratification is not a predetermined trait, but rather something that can be developed through experiences and the environment that surrounds us.
So if you want to succeed at something, at some point you will need to find the ability to be disciplined and take action instead of becoming distracted and doing what's easy. This is easier said than done, of course. But there are strategies that can help.
One strategy is to start incredibly small. Make your new habit “so easy you can't say no.” By starting small, you remove the barriers that often prevent us from taking action. It's much easier to convince yourself to do something when it only takes a few minutes. And once you've started, it's much easier to keep going.
Another strategy is to improve one thing, by one percent. This concept, popularized by author James Clear, is based on the idea that small, incremental improvements can add up to big changes over time. By focusing on improving just one thing by one percent each day, you can make steady progress towards your goals without feeling overwhelmed.
Finally, you can use the “Seinfeld Strategy” to maintain consistency. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld once said that the key to his success was simply not breaking the chain. He would mark an X on a calendar for every day that he wrote jokes, and his goal was to never break the chain. This simple strategy can be applied to any habit or goal. Find a way to get started in less than 2 minutes, and then commit to not breaking the chain.
Now, let's explore another aspect of achieving success - how to actually use what you read. Reading is a valuable tool for learning and expanding our knowledge. But if we don't take action on what we read, it becomes nothing more than a collection of words.
Here at Readwise, we believe in the power of turning reading into meaningful action and lasting insight. We call this process a reading workflow, and it consists of three key steps: Capture, Review, and Integrate.
The first step in a reading workflow is to capture any and all things that might be meaningful to you. This includes highlights, notes, and even ideas that come to mind while reading. The objective is simply to capture whatever stands out to you. What is salient to you will be different from every other reader, so there are no rules when it comes to what to highlight.
Once you've captured your highlights, the next step is to review them. This is where the true value of reading comes to light. Without reviewing your highlights, what was the point of capturing them in the first place? Readwise offers a variety of ways to consistently review your highlights, but the simplest and most popular is the Readwise email - a daily assortment of your best highlights.
The final step in a reading workflow is to integrate what you've read into your life. This can take many forms. It might mean improved retention of new concepts thanks to a lightweight form of spaced repetition. It might mean enhanced creativity resulting from the serendipitous juxtaposition of seemingly unrelated ideas. Or it might mean sudden inspiration to act on something you've read due to a well-timed reminder in a daily review.
The key is to create a system that helps you actually make use of what you've read. A reading workflow will help you get more of what you want by resurfacing all the things you found important while reading, creating repeated opportunities to actually make use of them. Great readers across time have relied on clever, external systems to compensate for their inherent forgetfulness. In fact, it is rare to meet a great reader who hasn't developed some sort of reading workflow.
In conclusion, success is not a matter of luck or talent. It is a result of delayed gratification, discipline, and taking action on what you've learned. By cultivating the ability to delay gratification and developing a reading workflow that allows you to actually use what you read, you can increase your chances of achieving success in all areas of your life.
So start small, improve one thing by one percent each day, and don't break the chain. Capture, review, and integrate your reading to make it meaningful and actionable. Success is within your reach, as long as you're willing to put in the work and make the necessary sacrifices.
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