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.
我在此是為了傳達一個非常重要的訊息。 我認為我們已經發現 成功最重要的因素。 它是在離這裡非常近的史丹福大學被發現的。 心理學教授找來一些四歲大的幼童 讓他們隻身在一間房間內。 並告訴這位四歲大的小孩, 「強尼,我將要把這顆棉花糖留給你, 十五分鐘。 如果我回來時這顆棉花糖還在, 你會多得到一顆。這樣你就有兩顆了。」 告訴一個四歲的孩子等十五分鐘 才能享受他們喜歡的東西, 就如同告訴我們,「兩小時後我們會幫你帶杯咖啡回來。」 (笑聲) 那感覺完全一樣。
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.
那麼當教授離開房間後發生了什麼事? 只要那扇門一關上… 三個小孩中有兩個吃了棉花糖。 五秒,十秒,四十秒,五十秒, 兩分鐘,四分鐘,八分鐘。 某些堅持了十四分鐘半。 (笑聲) 沒辦法做到。沒辦法等。 有趣的是,每三個中會有一個 會看著棉花糖然後像這樣… 看著它。 把它放回去。 他們會走來走去。他們會拉扯他們的裙子或是褲子。
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.
這些小孩,儘管才四歲,已經懂得 成功最重要的原則。 那就是「延遲滿足」的能力。 自律, 成功最重要的因素。 十五年後,十四到十五年後, 在追蹤研究中 他們發現了什麼? 他們回去找這些現在已經十八或十九歲的孩子。 然後他們發現百分之百地 沒有吃棉花糖的孩子都很成功。 他們的成績很好。表現優異。 他們很快樂。對未來有計劃。 他們與老師和同學關係良好。 一切都很順利。
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.
而吃了棉花糖的孩子中有很大一部份, 遭遇到了麻煩。 他們沒考上大學。 成績不好。有些輟學了。 有些雖然還在唸書但是成績很糟。 少數一些成績不錯。
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.
於是我腦中浮現一個問題:拉丁美洲的小孩 跟美國小孩的反應會是相同的嗎? 所以我去了哥倫比亞。並重複了這個實驗。 這個實驗非常好玩。我用了四,五,六歲大的小孩。 讓我們看看發生了什麼事。
(Spanish) (Laughter)
(笑聲)
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.
所以哥倫比亞的孩子是如何反應的? 三分之二的拉美小孩吃了棉花糖。 三分之一沒吃。 這個小女孩非常有趣。 她把棉花糖的內部吃光光了。 (笑聲) 換句話說,她希望我們認為她沒有吃,這樣她可以拿到兩個。 但她還是吃了。 所以我們知道她將會成功。但是必須有人能夠監督她。 (笑聲) 例如說,她不能去金融業上班, 或者當個收銀員。 但是她將會成功。
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.
這能應用到任何事情上。甚至是推銷。 如果一個推銷員 — 當客戶說,「我要那個。」這個推銷員說,「好的,您要的東西在此。」 他當初一定吃了棉花糖。 如果這個推銷員說,「請等一下, 讓我問您一些問題,看看您的選擇是否適合。」 你可以賣出更多東西。 所以這個研究可以應用在生活各式各樣的面相中。
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.
我用這個來做結束 — 韓國人這麼做了。 你知道嗎?這真是太棒了 我們需要一本訴說棉花糖故事的童書。 我們為小孩設計了一本。現在全韓國都在看這本書。 他們教導孩子同樣的原則。 我們在美國的人也需要學習這個原則。 因為我們欠了一屁股債。 我們吃的棉花糖比我們製造的更多。 非常謝謝你們。