I think we have found

我認為我們已經發現

the most important factor for success.

成功最重要的因素。

And it was found close to here, Stanford.

它是在離這裡非常近的史丹福大學被發現的。

Psychology professor took kids that were four years old

心理學教授找來一些四歲大的幼童

and put them in a room all by themselves.

讓他們隻身在一間房間內。

And he would tell the child, a four-year-old kid,

並告訴這位四歲大的小孩，

"Johnny, I am going to leave you here with a marshmallow

「強尼，我將要把這顆棉花糖留給你，

for 15 minutes.

十五分鐘。

If, after I come back, this marshmallow is here,

如果我回來時這顆棉花糖還在，

you will get another one. So you will have two."

你會多得到一顆。這樣你就有兩顆了。」

To tell a four-year-old kid to wait 15 minutes

告訴一個四歲的孩子等十五分鐘

for something that they like,

才能享受他們喜歡的東西，

is equivalent to telling us, "We'll bring you coffee in two hours."

就如同告訴我們，「兩小時後我們會幫你帶杯咖啡回來。」

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Exact equivalent.

那感覺完全一樣。

So what happened when the professor left the room?

那麼當教授離開房間後發生了什麼事？

As soon as the door closed...

只要那扇門一關上…

two out of three ate the marshmallow.

三個小孩中有兩個吃了棉花糖。

Five seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds,

五秒，十秒，四十秒，五十秒，

two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes.

兩分鐘，四分鐘，八分鐘。

Some lasted 14-and-a-half minutes.

某些堅持了十四分鐘半。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

Couldn't do it. Could not wait.

沒辦法做到。沒辦法等。

What's interesting is that one out of three

有趣的是，每三個中會有一個

would look at the marshmallow and go like this ...

會看著棉花糖然後像這樣…

Would look at it.

看著它。

Put it back.

把它放回去。

They would walk around. They would play with their skirts and pants.

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

這些小孩，儘管才四歲，已經懂得

the most important principle for success,

成功最重要的原則。

which is the ability to delay gratification.

那就是「延遲滿足」的能力。

Self-discipline:

自律，

the most important factor for success.

成功最重要的因素。

15 years later, 14 or 15 years later,

十五年後，十四到十五年後，

follow-up study.

在追蹤研究中

What did they find?

他們發現了什麼？

They went to look for these kids who were now 18 and 19.

他們回去找這些現在已經十八或十九歲的孩子。

And they found that 100 percent

然後他們發現百分之百地

of the children that had not eaten the marshmallow were successful.

沒有吃棉花糖的孩子都很成功。

They had good grades. They were doing wonderful.

他們的成績很好。表現優異。

They were happy. They had their plans.

他們很快樂。對未來有計劃。

They had good relationships with the teachers, students.

他們與老師和同學關係良好。

They were doing fine.

一切都很順利。

A great percentage of the kids that ate the marshmallow,

而吃了棉花糖的孩子中有很大一部份，

they were in trouble.

遭遇到了麻煩。

They did not make it to university.

他們沒考上大學。

They had bad grades. Some of them dropped out.

成績不好。有些輟學了。

A few were still there with bad grades.

有些雖然還在唸書但是成績很糟。

A few had good grades.

少數一些成績不錯。

I had a question in my mind: Would Hispanic kids

於是我腦中浮現一個問題：拉丁美洲的小孩

react the same way as the American kids?

跟美國小孩的反應會是相同的嗎？

So I went to Colombia. And I reproduced the experiment.

所以我去了哥倫比亞。並重複了這個實驗。

And it was very funny. I used four, five and six years old kids.

這個實驗非常好玩。我用了四，五，六歲大的小孩。

And let me show you what happened.

讓我們看看發生了什麼事。

(Spanish) (Laughter)

（笑聲）

So what happened in Colombia?

所以哥倫比亞的孩子是如何反應的？

Hispanic kids, two out of three ate the marshmallow;

三分之二的拉美小孩吃了棉花糖。

one out of three did not.

三分之一沒吃。

This little girl was interesting;

這個小女孩非常有趣。

she ate the inside of the marshmallow.

她把棉花糖的內部吃光光了。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

In other words, she wanted us to think that she had not eaten it, so she would get two.

換句話說，她希望我們認為她沒有吃，這樣她可以拿到兩個。

But she ate it.

但她還是吃了。

So we know she'll be successful. But we have to watch her.

所以我們知道她將會成功。但是必須有人能夠監督她。

(Laughter)

（笑聲）

She should not go into banking, for example,

例如說，她不能去金融業上班，

or work at a cash register.

或者當個收銀員。

But she will be successful.

但是她將會成功。

And this applies for everything. Even in sales.

這能應用到任何事情上。甚至是推銷。

The sales person that --

如果一個推銷員 —

the customer says, "I want that." And the person says, "Okay, here you are."

當客戶說，「我要那個。」這個推銷員說，「好的，您要的東西在此。」

That person ate the marshmallow.

他當初一定吃了棉花糖。

If the sales person says, "Wait a second.

如果這個推銷員說，「請等一下，

Let me ask you a few questions to see if this is a good choice."

讓我問您一些問題，看看您的選擇是否適合。」

Then you sell a lot more.

你可以賣出更多東西。

So this has applications in all walks of life.

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.

我用這個來做結束 — 韓國人這麼做了。

You know what? This is so good

你知道嗎？這真是太棒了

that we want a marshmallow book for children.

我們需要一本訴說棉花糖故事的童書。

We did one for children. And now it is all over Korea.

我們為小孩設計了一本。現在全韓國都在看這本書。

They are teaching these kids exactly this principle.

他們教導孩子同樣的原則。

And we need to learn that principle here in the States,

我們在美國的人也需要學習這個原則。

because we have a big debt.

因為我們欠了一屁股債。

We are eating more marshmallows than we are producing.

我們吃的棉花糖比我們製造的更多。

Thank you so much.

非常謝謝你們。