An article from “San Francisco Chronicle” based on a Walter Mischel experiment, states  that Selt-control is the key to success. For this experiment 4 years old children are left in a room with a marshmallow and a bell. If they rang the bell, the scientist would come back and they could eat the marshmallow. If however they didn’t ring the bell and wait for him to come back, they could have 2 marshmallows.

The experiment results showed:” The children who waited longer went on to get higher SAT scores. They got into better colleges and had, on average, better adult outcomes. The children who rang the bell quickest were more likely to become bullies. They received worse teacher and parental evaluations 10 years later and were more likely to have drug problems at age 32.”

Fortunately children self-control can be improved: “What works, says Jonathan Haidt, the author of “The Happiness Hypothesis,” is creating stable, predictable environments for children, in which good behavior pays off — and practice. Young people who are given a series of tests that demand self-control get better at it.”