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Could you pass the marshmallow test....

by e-mail2u
9 replies
I read an interesting article in my local paper today to find out if your child is an achiever or under achiever. The test involved placing a marshmallow in front of your child and giving them two options either eat it now or wait and get a better reward.

If the child choose to eat it straight away then that was it they just got that marshmallow. Now if they waited they got two marshmallows.......

(long pause as a thousand cogs started turning)

The conclusion to this is a child who eats the marshmallow right away lives in the moment, lacks patience and discipline. However a child who waits shows discipline, patience and awareness of present and future.


So how does a marshmallow apply to IM's?

Lets change the marshmallow to a product it could be an e book, graphics, software or a website. Now here are you two choices.

1. launch the product right away.
2. wait and plan, test, research and then launch.

So what is the reward Money....

Option 1 may give you an instant result, but Option 2 will give you results long after option 1 has faded away.

Moral of the story " when eating marshmallows follow the 5 p's "

Prior.
Planning.
Prevents.
Poor.
Performance....

This is a common reason why most people fail in internet marketing they rush in. We all have fallen for this at some point usually when we first started.

Thanks all for reading,
Geoff
#marshmallow #pass
  • Profile picture of the author Kurt
    In second grade, someone came to class, not our regular teacher, and gave us an option to get one hershey bar now, or wait a week and get two bars.

    Every kid except 2 took the 2 bars in a week.

    At recess, all the kids made fun of the 2 kids that took a bar right now.

    For some reason, I asked one of the 2 kids why she took the candy bar now. She said because she didn't have any food at home and didn't eat breakfast and was very hungry.

    I learned a great lesson that day that has stuck with me for life. Sorry about going off-topic, but sometimes there are curcumstances we don't consider when creating tests like this.
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  • Profile picture of the author ibringjoy
    Whatever happened to:

    "A bird in the hand is worth 2 in the bush"?

    I'm not saying you should not plan. No. Far from it. But I also think it is good to get something going for immediate income and then take the time to implement things that will bring more in the long run.

    Sometimes it is the planning and perfecting which stop people from taking the immediate actions which could be bringing them some income.

    The thing about those marshmallows or the candy bars - you never really know for sure that you will get the better stuff in the future. But if you take what is offered now, you do get something for sure. There is always a risk in waiting for more. Some people do not like risks. They go for the sure thing. It does not mean they are impatient at all. They just prefer the sure thing. So there are really a lot of reasons why the person could choose what they do.

    Kathryn
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    • Profile picture of the author Ricter
      There's a lot more to this marshmallow test, I can recommend anyone to google it. There turned out to be a high correlation between those children who could delay gratification, and success later in life.

      I asked my dad years ago what I would have done as a child if presented with that test and he said, "you would have ate it!"
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    • Profile picture of the author ExRat
      Hi,

      Alternatively -

      Offer one marshmallow now, or two next week etc.

      When it comes to the next week, ask the ones who chose to wait whether any of them paired up and hedged their bets. (IE One of them took the instant one and split it half each, and the other would collect the two this week and give the other one a whole one back).

      If there are any, give these kids a whole bag each for initiative and resourcefulness. They guaranteed a satisfactory return with the possibility of a higher return, without risking all by trying to get the most.

      The rest, pretend that you are going to welch on the deal and not give them their two marshmallows in order to teach them a lesson. Ask them what they think the lesson is, because the lesson is their only reward.

      After taking abuse, hissy fits et al...encourage some initiative - get them to try and guess the lesson.

      Then explain that there are times when it is better to be patient and times when it is better not to. Try and get them to work it out themselves, but eventually work them around to understanding (or working out) that often, it is the tactic of the swindler to use patience and trust against a person.

      It is their task to know when to cash out instantly (because the risk is too high) and when to be patient (because the risk is low and the reward is high.)

      Explain that it is not always swindlers that cause a loss, but sometimes genuine circumstance. (The person promising two marshmallows the next week might have unavoidable reasons for not showing up and delivering.)

      Then congratulate them on their efforts in 'working it out' and give them their two marshmallows each.
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      Roger Davis
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  • Profile picture of the author Destin Cribbs
    I mean are we all that surprised that patience can be a great asset in life? Kurt has a greta point that a lot of times certain factors aren't included in the tests but for the most part patience can get you really far in life, stock market, investments, etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author TorontoCarol
    I read a book about this last year. Can't remember the exact title. It's called "Don't Eat the Marshmallow" or something like that. Just a thin little book but great reading and doesn't take long.

    The author talked about those experiments and I think the main point was when we take something as an immediate fix, like any old job to make money - rather than the job you want, that's like eating the marshmallow.

    Much more to it than that, you'll have to read it for yourself.
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    Carol
    Non-Techie Online Marketing Specialist

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  • Profile picture of the author Clark
    I wouldn't have waited.

    Instead, I would have negotiated for a couple graham crackers and some chocolate to go along with it so the marshmallow would be an enjoyable eat instead of a boring marshmallow.

    I would then go back to the other kids and influence them to do the same.

    The next day I would come to school armed with 30-40 smores that I would sell to each of the kids that got hooked on the sweet treats while working toward capturing more kids to purchase the tasty treats via free samples.

    As for the kids who decided to wait.... I would put them to work making the smores that I would sell to the kids who couldn't wait.

    Do good things really come to those who wait?
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  • Profile picture of the author e-mail2u
    Clark,

    Perfect response just what i was waiting for...

    As an internet marketer you do have to seize the moment, however you did negotiate for a bigger prize Smores then planed to profit of it by manipulating the option 1 people.

    Successful internet marketer use option 1 to generate sales through the sales copy you want them to buy now not later. But we practice option 2 you don't just get a product then launch it we create compelling sales pages. set up autoresponders to send e-mails to our list etc..
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  • Profile picture of the author John M Kane
    I never trusted adults after six years in catholic grade school so, I would think they were going to trick me by cutting one marshmallow in half and calling it two.
    Or hearing "Oh, sorry Mickey already ate it. Don't you think you should share" or "Sister Mary Elephant had to slice it up for hosts for mass as the pastor ran out".
    Then the nun would wack me with a ruler and tell me to sit down and shut up.
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