Activity

Dozens of studies show that
willpower is the single most important
keystone habit for individual success.
In a 2005 study, for instance, researchers
from the University of Pennsylvania
analyzed 164 eighth-grade students,
measuring their IQs and other factors,
including how much willpower the
students demonstrated, as measured by
tests of their self-discipline.
Students who exerted high levels of
willpower were more likely to earn
higher grades in their classes and gain
admission into more selective schools.
They had fewer absences and spent less
time watching television and more hours
“Highly self-disciplined adolescents outperformed their more
impulsive peers on every academic-
performance variable,” the researchers
wrote. “Self-discipline predicted
academic performance more robustly
than did IQ. Self-discipline also
predicted which students would improve
their grades over the course of the
school year, whereas IQ did not.… Self-
discipline has a bigger effect on
academic performance than does
intellectual talent.