Posts Tagged Self-Control

Self-Control in Children

On August 30, 2016 / Blog, Effectiveness, Learning

When it comes to children doing well in school and life, the importance of self-control can’t be ignored. In fact, there is growing research on “self-regulation”—people’s ability to stop, think, make a plan, and control their impulses.

These are the same skills needed to do well in school and in life.

Researchers have become keenly interested in psychologist Walter Mischel’s famous “marshmallow study” from the 1960s in which a researcher would place a marshmallow in front of a hungry 4-year-old and tell the child that they could eat the marshmallow right then—or have two if they waited until the researcher returned. About a third of the children could distract themselves, exhibit self-control, and wait.

Followed for years, these disciplined kids … >>>

Reducing Stress with Disagreeable People

On January 15, 2013 / Effectiveness, Relationships

Reducing stress with disagreeable people requires some education and self-discipline—as indicated in the following comment that was sent to me from a reader of my free monthly newsletter. The article referred to follows his comment.

“After reading, ‘To accept yourself fully is to recognize that not everyone you meet will like you and that you will never be perfect,’ I gave myself an assignment: Look forward to an encounter with that Disagreeable One in my day. Now I was ready with my changed attitude: I didn’t have to win that person over. I could shrug it off and not keep emotional baggage. It was liberating and allowed me to find other times for making a working job relationship. I discovered … >>>

Impulse Control and School Achievement

On June 18, 2012 / Discipline, Parenting

Kids who can control their impulses do better in school.

It is common for people to believe that intelligence plays the key role in children’s academic achievement. However, a study by Pennsylvania University researchers found that the ability to self-regulate—to pay attention to a task and inhibit impulsive behavior—was more important than intelligence for early academic success.

A child’s ability to monitor his or her thinking and behavior develops rapidly during school. Parents who are interested in boosting their children’s school readiness should engage them in some activities that involve taking turns, paying attention for sustained periods, and for prompting them to reflect on their self-control.

One procedure that can be practiced to help in impulse control is explained in … >>>