18. Imagine this:There's an Apple and a piece of cake on a table which one would you like?The delicious cake or the healthy apple?A bestseller, Willpower Rediscovering Our Great Strength, suggests that will power is the ability to make decisions that are better for us in the long term rather than in the short term.
Here is a famous experiment in the book:The Marshmallow Test. In1972, Professor Walter Michel tested the willpower of 600 four-year-old to six-year-old. In the experiment, each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow (棉花软糖) on a table in front of them. They were given two choices:they could either eat it or if they waited for fifteen minutes, they'd be given a second one and then they could eat both.
So, what did the kids do?Well, as you can imagine, 70% ate the first marshmallow within fifteen minutes. But the other 30% controlled themselves and waited for the second marshmallow But then Michel also discovered something really interesting Twenty years later he found that those who'd shown strong will power were getting better marks at university and were more popular.
Willpower is like a muscle (肌肉), and the more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. So, if you do daily self-control exercises", such as making your bed or brushing your teeth, you'll improve your willpower. And daily willpower exercises will help you with those bigger goals, such as studying for an exam or training for a marathon. Be careful though. Just like any muscle, your "willpower muscle" can get tired. If you have to do lots of things that need willpower, take a break or give yourself a treat. That way, you'll build up your willpower again.
And one last thing the writer mentions people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So, congratulations!