Good morning, beauties!
I can’t believe it’s Friday already! It’s time to finish this week off strong and plan a fun weekend.
I’m pretty satisfied with the way this week is going. Yesterday I had a nice easy pace 10 km evening jog, and it felt a-freaking-mazing. I feel like a whole new person!
Today I’d like to go over something that I read in Spartan Up! by Joe De Sena. It kind of struck a cord.
In one of the chapters, the author and the founder of the Spartan Race mentioned ‘the cookie experiment’. This experiment was very simple. A Stanford researcher, Walter Mischel, decided to give to kids their favorite treat. Then he offered them a choice, if they would wait for another 15 minutes, they could eat 2 treats instead of one. The outcome was pretty awesome. It seems like the kids who refused the first cookie became more successful as adults.
If you think about it, here is the answer to many problems that our society faces today. Everyone wants everything now: money, spotless relationship, perfect body, big house, expensive car, the list goes on.I am definitely not saying that desiring those things is a bad choice. Not at all! The problem with it, however, is that many of us do not want to actually work to achieve these results, everyone prefers to find a miraculous shortcut. Think of countless quick fixes that are being advertised on TV, radio and in magazines around us. That’s pretty insane!
According to the book, ‘Science has found that the most successful people are not the most intelligent or the most talented but rather the ones who tough it out.’ And that’s great news! It means that average people, like you and I, can be very successful. There is no secret to it, all we have to do it to stick to our plan, be persistent, consistent, and not to be discouraged by ‘failures’.
Do you want more. Try out the following steps that Joe De Sena suggested in his book Spartan Up!:
- Write down your plan.
- Share it with someone who can offer you some constructive criticism while being supportive at the same time.
- Eliminate distractions.
- Keep a journal of your successes and failures. Reward yourself.
- Make adjustments if needed without jeopardizing your goal.
- DON’T EVER GIVE UP!!!
No one ever said that this will be easy; however, think of the ultimate reward. It is soooo worth it!
What are your thoughts?
xoxo
Olena
candies & crunches 
This is a great post! I am in the midst of considering some changes in my life work wise and this has me both motivated and certain that if I work hard I can make this a great change!
Thank you, Sarah! You’re one hard-working lady. I have no doubts, you’ll achieve everything you want ❤ xoxo
There was another experiment like this using marshmallows. You should check out the video for it, it’s super adorable trying to watch the little kids resist eating the marshmallows. I don’t always like being patient but usually the best rewards come from the patience route rather than the instant gratification one.
I can only imagine 😀
I love this. I totally was a stubborn little kid who would have held out as long as it took to get a better outcome. My brother was always the instant gratification kind of kid though!
Good girl! ❤ lol
Wow! Very simple and straight forward, you have certainly shed some light on important points we have remotely become used to. Wanting the reward, but failing to put the efforts to get there! Can’t wait to plan my jog, this weekend. Cheers!
Thank you so much, darling! xoxo
This is so insightful! Anything worth achieving definitely takes time, patience and persistence.
You got it, girl 🙂 xoxo
Oh I really like this…I’ve heard a similar analogy but seein as how I love cookies this one is now my favorite lol. It’s important to never give up on something you want!
Haha! You are so funny! Glad you enjoyed reading this ❤ xoxo