working memory, impulse control, and cognitive flexibility and adaptability.

Focus is one of the main pillars of self-discipline; a person who lacks the ability to focus is almost certainly one who will also lack discipline.

Curt Stern’s “rubber band hypothesis” regarding the age-old nature-versus-nurture debate can be applied here: People are endowed with differing sizes of rubber bands (i.e. genetic predisposition) to start with, and environmental forces can stretch those rubber bands in different ways. Even if the genetic lottery gave you a less-than-ideal prefronta

three executive functions

impossible to say how much of your self-discipline comes from a genetic predisposition and how much of it is determined by your environment and upbringing.

the more you practice being disciplined, the better you become at it.

meditation was shown to impact the amygdala, which is generally responsible for the primal emotions, instincts, and drives that keep us alive.

strong case for meditation being a useful tool for “strengthening” the areas of the brain that are responsible

We must all suffer one of two things: the pain of discipline or the pain of regret.”