In the 1960s Dr. Walter Mischel conducted a series of now legendary studies at Stanford University assessing delayed gratification. In the study preschoolers were given marshmallows and had the choice of immediately enjoying them (immediate gratification) or waiting 15 minutes to earn an additional treat (delayed gratification).

Those children have been tracked over the past 50 years and Dr. Mischel has found that the children who displayed the ability to delay gratification have been consistently more ...