Dept. of Science: Don’t!: Reporting & Essays: The New Yorker
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2009/05/18/090518fa_fact_lehrer

Once Mischel began analyzing the results, he noticed that low delayers, the children who rang the bell quickly, seemed more likely to have behavioral problems, both in school and at home. They got lower S.A.T. scores. They struggled in stressful situations, often had trouble paying attention, and found it difficult to maintain friendships. The child who could wait fifteen minutes had an S.A.T. score that was, on average, two hundred and ten points higher than that of the kid who could wait only thirty seconds.

who could wait only thirty sec

The marshmallow test -- longitudinal studies show that it may predict future success better than intelligence

The ability to delay gratification is a far better predictor of academic performance than I.Q. "Intelligence is really important, but it's still not as important as self-control."

In the late nineteen-sixties, Carolyn Weisz, a four-year-old with long brown hair, was invited into a “game room” at the Bing Nursery School, on the campus of Stanford University. The room was little more than a large closet, containing a desk and a chair. Carolyn was asked to sit down in the chair and pick a treat from a tray of marshmallows, cookies, and pretzel sticks. Carolyn chose the marshmallow. Although she’s now forty-four, Carolyn still has a weakness for those air-puffed balls of corn syrup and gelatine. “I know I shouldn’t like them,” she says. “But they’re just so delicious!” A researcher then made Carolyn an offer: she could either eat one marshmallow right away or, if she was willing to wait while he stepped out for a few minutes, she could have two marshmallows when he returned. He said that if she rang a bell on the desk while he was away he would come running back, and she could eat one marshmallow but would forfeit the second. Then he left the room.

Don’t! The secret of self-control.

interesting article on following through with your goals

Whether you plan to cure cancer, lose weight or be the world's best parent, results of a new study suggest you'd do well to keep your mouth shut about it. And not just to avoid annoying other people. Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn't necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain "a premature sense of completeness" about the goal.

"Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn't necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain "a premature sense of completeness" about the goal." You have to pay to read the journal article but the abstract is here: http://www3.interscience.wiley.com/journal/122306810/abstract

"(Take) a mother who talks about all the great things she's going to do for her kids — help them do better in school, get better test scores, give them extra training — while all the other mothers nod in approval," says Gollwitzer. "The chances are high that she won't do as much as she could to achieve those goals because she's already viewed as an ideal mother just by sharing her wonderful intentions." He explains the intentions function as a symbol of possessing the desired identity. This is evident in the statement of a "high-order goal," such as losing weight to become a healthier person, but not in planning to drop three pounds to fit into a dress.

Whether you plan to cure cancer, lose weight or be the world's best parent, results of a new study suggest you'd do well to keep your mouth shut about it. And not just to avoid annoying other people. Researchers report that when dealing with identity goals — that is, the aspirations that define who we are — sharing our intentions doesn't necessarily motivate achievement. On the contrary, a series of experiments shows that when others take notice of our plans, performance is compromised because we gain "a premature sense of completeness" about the goal.