Morality, Religion & Philosophy: May 2010 Archives

Discipline Is More Important Than Intelligence

New research affirms that discipline is more important than intelligence.

Highly self-disciplined adolescents outperformed their more impulsive peers on every academic-performance variable, including report-card grades, standardized achievement-test scores, admission to a competitive high school, and attendance. Self-disciple measured in the fall predicted more variance in each of these outcomes than did IQ, and unlike IQ, self-discipline predicted gains in academic performance over the school year.

Not surprising. Everyone can cultivate discipline, no matter what genes you've been dealt. This is one of the most important lessons I want to teach my daughter.