Zhong Shengqi, Class 7, Senior 3, Shenzhen Xin’an Middle School Instructed by Li Mengshi, Tang Ying 深圳市新安中學（集團）初三（7）班 鐘盛琪 指導老師：李夢詩 湯穎 Self-control is one of the most important qualities in our lives and can influence our studies. Some people have great self-control while others do not. The people who have great self-control will be successful, and people around them will be satisfied with them too. Dr. Walter Michel at Stanford University has done an experiment about self-control. He made some children sit in a room, and put marshmallows or sweets in front of them. If a child didn’t eat in 15 minutes, he or she would have more sweets while showing their strong self-control. After 30 years, most of the children who showed great self-control in the experiment are living a better life, have good jobs, and are more successful than others. This experiment shows the importance of self-control. How to improve one’s self-control? There are lots of answers to this question, but let’s examine just a few. First of all, you can set a goal and realize it step by step. Remember not to give up easily, or you could fail half way with all your efforts wasted in vain. Secondly, keep studying regularly. Keeping a proper balance between work and rest is very important. For this, you can follow the “Pomodoro Technique,” which is a simple method of time management and a good way to train yourself as well. You can set a period of time to work. When the time is over, you can have five minutes to rest. Then, go on working again for some time, rest for a while, and so on. If you keep using it consistently, your self-control will become stronger. Last but not least, don’t be too proud of what you have done. Modesty helps one go forward, whereas conceit makes one lag behind. You just need to keep on working hard every day. | 