I Want it Now(!)

We recently came across a product called I Want It in an electronic goods store and had a good laugh about its tongue-in-cheek jibe at today's consumer. Something to think about in this fast moving, fast changing world, where attention spans are short and the name of the game is instant gratification. It is a world where people want quick results and easy answers.

In his book Emotional Intelligence (Why it can matter more than IQ), Daniel Goleman describes The Marshmallow Test conducted by Walter Mischel. A group of four year olds were offered two marshmallows if they could wait till the researcher returned, and one if they didn't want to wait.

"There is perhaps no psychological skill more fundamental than resisting impulse. It is the root of all emotional self-control..." (Goleman, 2004, p.81)

When these children were tracked down fourteen years later, it was found that those who had resisted temptation at the age of four, were now more socially competent and better able to cope with life's frustrations than those who had given in to impulse and grabbed the one marshmallow. They also fared better academically than those who had acted on whim. "More than a decade later, they were still able to delay gratification in pursuit of their goals."

But there's hope for us all. As Goleman states, "There is ample evidence that emotional skills such as impulse control and accurately reading a social situation can be learned."

Reference: Goleman, Daniel,(2004), Emotional Intelligence and Working with Emotional Intelligence, Bloomsbury Publishing