I'm here because I have a very important message: I think we have found the most important factor for success. And it was found close to here, Stanford.
我今天來這裡是要傳遞一個非常重要的信息。我認為我們已經發現了走向成功最重要的因素。而這一成果就是在離這不遠的史丹福大學裡發現的。
Psychology professor took kids that were four years old and put them in a room all by themselves. And he would tell the child, a four-year-old kid, "Johnny, I am going to leave you here with a marshmallow for 15 minutes. If, after I come back, this marshmallow is here, you will get another one. So you will have two." To tell a four-year-old kid to wait 15 minutes for something that they like, is equivalent to telling us, "We'll bring you coffee in two hours." (Laughter) Exact equivalent.
心理學教授找來一些四歲大的幼童把孩子自己留在一個房間裡。然後他告訴四歲的孩子， 「強尼，我要給你一顆棉花糖， 給你十五分鐘。如果我回來的時候這顆棉花糖還在這兒，你會再得到一顆。這樣你就有兩顆了。」 告訴一個四歲的小孩要等十五分鐘才能享受他所喜歡的東西， 就如同告訴我們大人，「我們兩小時後會給你送咖啡來。」 這是完全一樣的事。
So what happened when the professor left the room? As soon as the door closed... two out of three ate the marshmallow. Five seconds, 10 seconds, 40 seconds, 50 seconds, two minutes, four minutes, eight minutes. Some lasted 14-and-a-half minutes.
那麼當教授離開後，房間裡發生了什麼事呢？ 門關上之後... 三分之二的小孩把棉花糖吃了。五秒、十秒、四十秒、五十秒、兩分鐘、四分鐘、八分鐘。有些孩子堅持了十四分半。
Couldn't do it. Could not wait. What's interesting is that one out of three would look at the marshmallow and go like this ... Would look at it. Put it back.They would walk around. They would play with their skirts and pants.
沒辦法不吃，等不了。有趣的是，有三分之一的小孩看著棉花糖，像這個樣子... 盯著它。將它放回去。他們會走來走去。他們會玩他們的裙子或褲子。
That child already, at four, understood the most important principle for success, which is the ability to delay gratification. Self-discipline: the most important factor for success. 15 years later, 14 or 15 years later, follow-up study. What did they find?
這個孩子，儘管才四歲，就已經懂得 成功最重要的原則。這就是「推遲享受」的能力。自律，成功最重要的因素。十五年後，十四到十五年後，再做後續研究。他們發現了什麼呢？
They went to look for these kids who were now 18 and 19. And they found that 100 percent of the children that had not eaten the marshmallow were successful. They had good grades. They were doing wonderful. They were happy. They had their plans. They had good relationships with the teachers, students. They were doing fine.
研究人員找到這些已經是十八、十九歲的小孩們。他們發現百分之百沒有吃棉花糖的小孩全部都很成功，他們學習成績很好，人生發展得非常好，他們都很快樂，對未來都有自己的規劃，他們和老師同學關係都很好，他們都生活得很好。
A great percentage of the kids that ate the marshmallow, they were in trouble. They did not make it to university. They had bad grades. Some of them dropped out. A few were still there with bad grades. A few had good grades.
而吃了棉花糖的小孩中有很大一部份，都有些問題。他們沒考上大學。成績不佳，有些綴學了。另外一些雖然還在念書，但成績很差。只有少數人成績不錯。
I had a question in my mind: Would Hispanic kids react the same way as the American kids? So I went to Colombia. And I reproduced the experiment. And it was very funny. I used four, five and six years old kids. And let me show you what happened.
我當時有一個想法：西班牙語系國家的兒童跟美國兒童的反應會是相同的嗎？所以我到哥倫比亞去了。我重複了這個試驗。結果非常有意思。我找了四、五、六歲年齡不等的孩子。現在我給你們看看當時的情況。
So what happened in Colombia? Hispanic kids, two out of three ate the marshmallow; one out of three did not. This little girl was interesting; she ate the inside of the marshmallow. In other words, she wanted us to think that she had not eaten it, so she would get two.
那麼在哥倫比亞發生了什麼呢？ 這些小孩，三分之二吃了棉花糖。三分之一沒有吃。這個小女孩非常有趣。她把棉花糖的芯吃了。 也就是說，她希望我們以為她沒有吃，這樣她就可以得到兩顆。
But she ate it. So we know she'll be successful. But we have to watch her. She should not go into banking, for example, or work at a cash register. But she will be successful.
但她確實吃了。所以我們知道她將會成功，但是必須有人監督她。比如說，她不應該去銀行業上班，或者做收銀員工作。但是她將會成功。
And this applies for everything. Even in sales. The sales person that — the customer says, "I want that." And the person says, "Okay, here you are." That person ate the marshmallow. If the sales person says, "Wait a second. Let me ask you a few questions to see if this is a good choice." Then you sell a lot more.So this has applications in all walks of life.
這能應用到很多事情上，甚至在銷售上。比如一個推銷員— 當客戶說，「我要那個。」這個推銷員就說，「好的，給你。」 這個推銷員當初一定吃了棉花糖。如果這個推銷員說，「請等一下， 讓我問您一些問題，看看這是不是個好的選擇。」 那樣就可以賣更多的東西。所以這能應用在生活的各個方面。
I end with — the Koreans did this. You know what? This is so good that we want a marshmallow book for children. We did one for children. And now it is all over Korea. They are teaching these kids exactly this principle.
我現在收尾—講講韓國人的做法。你們猜怎麼著？這個試驗太好了，我們想要一本有關棉花糖的兒童書，我們就為兒童出了一本書。現在這本書風靡全韓國，韓國人教給孩子們的就是這個道理。
And we need to learn that principle here in the States, because we have a big debt. We are eating more marshmallows than we are producing. Thank you so much.
在美國我們也需要懂得這個道理。因為我們欠了一屁股的債。我們吃的棉花糖要比我們生產的多。非常感謝大家。