Monday, May 30, 2016

Do This Smart Thing

  One of the smartest, if not the smartest, thing to do is develop the ability to delay wish gratification.  You may come across a study called "the marshmallow study".  Small children were told they could eat a marshmallow right then, or wait and have two.  This was a study over time and the children who could wait turned out to usually be more successful in life.  Goals take time. Learning takes time.  When you are focused on reaching a goal the waiting is less painful.  So it is not just a matter of waiting but putting off instant wish gratification for a purpose.  You may have to invent or use all kinds of distraction strategies. Some may be better than others.  If you have a grasshopper mindset you will totally forget about the wish and the goal as well and get nowhere.  But if you endow the steps to waiting and working for a goal with a certain charge, with a sense of purpose, you will find that the time passes quickly.  That is probably why Christmas comes so quickly for parents and so slowly for children.  The children are just waiting for the presents.  The parents are purposefully trying to make the holiday happy for the children.
  So I suggest you look at the way you are living your life.  Are you living a "smart life"?  To live a smart life you have to do smart things.  Are you keeping in touch with people you care for?  That takes a bit of trouble.  Are you setting and reaching goals?  That also takes a bit of delay of instant wish gratification.  Put on your smart hat and take hold of your life.  It is your life.  Live it smartly.

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