自控的秘密

A new book, the bestseller, Willpower, says that having strong willpower (意志力) is necessary to a successful life.

The book starts by describing a famous experiment: The Marshmallow (软糖) Test. In 1972, a psychology (心理学) professor Mischel tested the willpower of 600 kids. In the experiment, each child was left alone in a room for fifteen minutes with a marshmallow on a table in front of them. They were given two choices: they could either eat the marshmallow or, if they waited fifteen minutes, they'd be given a second marshmallow (and then they could eat both).

So, what did the kids do? 70% ate the first marshmallow within the fifteen minutes, but the other 30% showed willpower -- they didn't eat the first one and waited for the second marshmallow quietly.

Twenty years later, Mischel discovered something interesting. He got in touch with the children and found that those with strong willpower were getting better marks at university, were better behaved and were more popular. So, how important it is to have strong willpower!

But don't worry if you aren't good at controlling yourself. The authors say that willpower is like a muscle (肌肉). The more you exercise it, the stronger it gets. However, just like any muscle, your “willpower muscle" can get tired. So, if you have to do lots of things that need willpower, take a break. That way, you'll build up your willpower again.

Lastly, the authors mention that people who learn foreign languages usually have a lot of willpower. So, congratulations!

自控的秘密

一本新书、畅销书《意志力》，写道，拥有强大的意志力是成功人生的必要条件。

这本书首先描述了一个著名的实验：棉花糖实验。1972年，心理学教授米切尔测试了600名儿童的意志力。在实验中，每个孩子被单独留在一个房间15分钟，面前的桌子上放着一个棉花糖。他们有两个选择：要么吃掉这个棉花糖，要么，如果他们等15分钟，他们会得到第二个棉花糖（然后他们可以把两个都吃了）。

那么，孩子们做了什么？70%的人在15分钟内吃了第一个棉花糖，但另外30%的人表现出毅力——他们没有吃第一个，而是静静地等待第二个棉花糖。

二十年后，米切尔发现了一些有趣的事情。他联系了这些孩子，发现那些意志力强的孩子在大学里成绩更好，表现更好，更受欢迎。所以，拥有坚强的意志力是多么重要！

但是如果你不善于控制自己，不要担心。作者说意志力就像肌肉。你越锻炼，它就越强壮。然而，就像任何肌肉一样，你的“意志力肌肉”也会感到疲劳。因此，如果你必须做很多需要意志力的事情，不妨休息一下。这样，你就会再次增强你的意志力。

最后，作者提到，学习外语的人通常有很大的毅力。所以，祝贺你！