There was an experiment carried out in Stamford University with four year old children. They put the children in a room, by themselves, with a marshmallow in front of them. They were told that if they could wait for 15 minutes and not eat the marshmallow they would get another one. Even for a 4 year old, having 100% return on investment is a very attractive proposition. Yes, when the door closed 2 out of 3 kids ate the marshmallow. One out of three, resisted the impulse.

Fifteen years later, a follow up study was done and the results were absolutely incredible. One hundred per cent of the kids that didn´t eat the marshmallow, were successful. Their entrance exam to the university was an average of 210 points higher than the kids that ate the marshmallow. That´s the difference between being accepted in MIT or in your local community college.  These kids also had superior relationships with their peers and they managed stress more successfully than the other kids.  The kids that ate the marshmallow, many didn´t go to college, others went to college and dropped out and some were in college making bad grades. The ones that dropped out of college were working in low level jobs with low pay and not the ideal conditions and they were highly in debt. Being highly in debt means that the chances that they will be poor for their whole lives are great.