Jeg står her, fordi jeg har en meget vigtig besked: jeg tror vi har fundet den vigtigste faktor for succes. Og den blev fundet tæt herpå, Stanford. Psykologi professor tog børn der var fire år gamle og satte dem i et værelse helt alene. Og han fortalte barnet, et fire-årigt barn, "Johnny, jeg efterlader dig her med en skumfidus i 15 minutter. Hvis, når jeg kommer tilbage, skumfidusen er her, får du en mere. Så du har to." At fortælle et fire-årigt barn at han skal vente 15 minutter på noget de kan lide, svarer til at fortælle os, "Vi kommer med kaffe om to timer". (Latter) Præcis det samme.
I'm here because I have a very important message: I think we have found the most important factor for success. And it was found close to here, Stanford. Psychology professor took kids that were four years old and put them in a room all by themselves. And he would tell the child, a four-year-old kid, "Johnny, I am going to leave you here with a marshmallow for 15 minutes. If, after I come back, this marshmallow is here, you will get another one. So you will have two." To tell a four-year-old kid to wait 15 minutes for something that they like, is equivalent to telling us, "We'll bring you coffee in two hours." (Laughter) Exact equivalent.
Så hvad skete der da professoren forlod værelset? Lige så snart døren lukkede... to ud af tre spiste skumfidusen. Fem sekunder, 10 sekunder, 40 sekunder, 50 sekunder, to minutter, fire minutter, otte minutter. Nogle klarede den 14 og et halvt minut. (Latter) Kunne ikke klare det. Kunne ikke vente. Det der er interessant er, at en ud af tre kiggede på skumfidusen og gjorde det her ... De kiggede på den. Lagde den tilbage. De ville gå rundt. De ville lege med deres nederdele og bukser.
So what happened when the professor left the room? As soon as the door closed... two out of three ate the marshmallow. Five seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes. Some lasted 14-and-a-half minutes. (Laughter) Couldn't do it. Could not wait. What's interesting is that one out of three would look at the marshmallow and go like this ... Would look at it. Put it back. They would walk around. They would play with their skirts and pants.
Det barn forstod allerede som fire-årig, den vigtigste grundregel for succes, hvillket er evnen til at udsætte nydelse. Selvdisciplin: den vigtigste faktor for at få succes. 15 år senere, 14 eller 15 år senere, opfølgningsstudie. Hvad fandt de ud af? De tog ud for at se til disse børn der nu var blevet 18 eller 19. Og de fandt ud af, at 100 procent af de børn der ikke havde spist skumfidusen var succesrige. De fik gode karakterer. De klarede sig flot. De var glade. De havde planer. De havde gode forhold til lærerne, de studerende. De klarede sig flot.
That child already, at four, understood the most important principle for success, which is the ability to delay gratification. Self-discipline: the most important factor for success. 15 years later, 14 or 15 years later, follow-up study. What did they find? They went to look for these kids who were now 18 and 19. And they found that 100 percent of the children that had not eaten the marshmallow were successful. They had good grades. They were doing wonderful. They were happy. They had their plans. They had good relationships with the teachers, students. They were doing fine.
En stor procentdel af børnene der spiste deres skumfidus, de havde problemer. De kom ikke på universitetet. De fik dårlige karakterer. Nogle af dem droppede ud. Nogle få var der stadig med dårlige karakterer. Nogle få fik gode karakterer.
A great percentage of the kids that ate the marshmallow, they were in trouble. They did not make it to university. They had bad grades. Some of them dropped out. A few were still there with bad grades. A few had good grades.
Jeg havde et spørgsmål i tankerne. Ville latinamerikanske børn reagere på samme måde som amerikanske børn? Så jeg tog til Colombia. Og jeg genskabte eksperimentet. Og det var ret sjovt. Jeg brugte fire-, fem- og seks-årige børn. Og lad mig vise Jer hvad der skete.
I had a question in my mind: Would Hispanic kids react the same way as the American kids? So I went to Colombia. And I reproduced the experiment. And it was very funny. I used four, five and six years old kids. And let me show you what happened.
(Spansk) (Latter)
(Spanish) (Laughter)
Så hvad skete der i Colombia? Latinamerikanske børn, to ud af tre spiste deres skumfidus; en ud af tre gjorde ikke. Denne lille pige var interessant; hun spiste det invendige af skumfidusen. (Latter) Med andre ord, ville hun have os til at tro, at hun ikke havde spist den, så hun ville få to. Men hun spiste den. Så vi ved hun bliver succesfuld. Men vi skal holde øje med hende. (Latter) Hun burde ikke blive noget i bankverdenen, for eksempel, eller arbejde ved et kasseapparat. Men hun bliver succesfuld.
So what happened in Colombia? Hispanic kids, two out of three ate the marshmallow; one out of three did not. This little girl was interesting; she ate the inside of the marshmallow. (Laughter) In other words, she wanted us to think that she had not eaten it, so she would get two. But she ate it. So we know she'll be successful. But we have to watch her. (Laughter) She should not go into banking, for example, or work at a cash register. But she will be successful.
Og dette gælder for alt. Selv indenfor salg. Sælgeren der -- når kunden siger, "Jeg vil have det". Og personen siger, "Okay, værsågod". Den person spiste skumfidusen. Hvis sælgeren siger, "Vent lige et øjeblik. Lad mig stille dig et par spørgsmål, for at se om det er det rigtige valg." Så sælger man meget mere. Så dette gælder for alle aspekter i livet.
And this applies for everything. Even in sales. The sales person that -- the customer says, "I want that." And the person says, "Okay, here you are." That person ate the marshmallow. If the sales person says, "Wait a second. Let me ask you a few questions to see if this is a good choice." Then you sell a lot more. So this has applications in all walks of life.
Jeg slutter med -- koreanerne gjorde dette. Vidste I det? Det her er så godt at vi vil have en bog om skumfiduser til børn. Vi lavede en til børn. Og nu er den overalt i Korea. De lærer børnene om præcis disse principper. Og vi skal lære det princip her i staterne, fordi vi har en stor gæld. Vi spiser flere skumfiduser end vi producerer. Mange tak.
I end with -- the Koreans did this. You know what? This is so good that we want a marshmallow book for children. We did one for children. And now it is all over Korea. They are teaching these kids exactly this principle. And we need to learn that principle here in the States, because we have a big debt. We are eating more marshmallows than we are producing. Thank you so much.