If you were ever to meet anybody who knows me quite well and asked them, “What is one thing that Simon absolutely loathes?” They’ll probably tell you, “People that drive 10km/h in the fast lane on the freeway.” I would stand naked outside the constitutional court in protest for the electric chair to be restored, just for these people.
However, one thing that I hate more than that is people who don’t understand the importance of long-term growth, people who want the rewards NOW! Maybe it’s because of all the bitterness I harbour from this one girl who discontinued our relationship 3 years ago, apparently my “dream was taking too long to get off the ground.”

You will appreciate my feeling of vindication, therefore, when I came across a study by Professor Walter Mischel:
In 1960, Mischel, then a professor at the Stanford University pioneered research that looked into the effects that delayed gratification had on the possible success of a person.

He started the research with 600, 4, 5 and 6 year olds and gave them the option of receiving one marshmallow now, or 2 marshmallows later.
So he would take the 4 year old into a 1m-by-1m room and explain to them, “Julius we are going to give you a couple of options, we will give you one marshmallow now. If you want you can eat the marshmallow now, but if you wait and do not eat the marshmallow we will award you with 2 more marshmallows when I return in 15 minutes.” The child had to choose between 1 marshmallow now or 2 marshmallows in 15 minutes.

I have seen more modern examples of the experiment and they are the funniest thing ever. You can imagine the terror of closing a 4 or 5 year old into a room and standing eye-to-eye with a marshmallow. Torture I tell you.
In some cases you would see the child caressing the marshmallow like a pet, others would take the marshmallow and smell it and lick it. Another took nibbles of the marshmallow but didn’t finish it.
Others just simply put it in their mouth straight away, no nibbling no smelling just gobbled it up straight away, didn’t even feel remorseful.
In the end, 2 thirds of the children ate their marshmallows, it turns out 15 minutes is a long time to wait for another marshmallow.
The other 1 third didn’t eat it and waited for the 2nd marshmallow.

They tracked the children over a period of 10 years and more. And they found that the kids who did not eat the marshmallow in the 15 minutes, i.e. that delayed their gratification for that 15 minutes were less likely to have weight problems and were less likely to engage in drug abuse. They found that the one third tended to have better life outcomes measured by body mass index, SAT scores, and educational attainment.

(For more information on this experiment search for the Marshmallow experiment)

The wonderful thing about this experiment is that it proves that people, who are willing to postpone their gratification, are more likely to be successful in life.
I think it is a rare and worthwhile personality trait to have (or habit to develop) for all young leaders. Whether an aspiring entrepreneur, social entrepreneur, political leader, social leader or professional if you want to have a lasting impact in your field, to impact people and to have sustainable profits you have to exhibit an ability to delay some gratification.
The ability to say, “I want the success now, but I will wait, I will invest, I will nurture, I will sacrifice, so that the future is much better.”

I am suspicious of people who love instant gratification and I try to avoid them at all cost. Because they are sensationalist freaks that make you second guess your practical long-term approach to life.
They make you feel bad for building firm foundations.

To all my fellow young leaders I would like to say, “Don’t be tempted into seeking instant pleasure, its’ delight is fleeting. Choose instead long lasting success. It may be slow, but the rewards for you, your family, your business, partners, employees and community persists longer and is much more rewarding.”

-Simon Mtsuki