Every now and then we don't meet our expectations, whether it was not getting the score you wanted on a test or getting the promotion you wanted at your job. Was it because your IQ wasn't high enough to meet your expectations or because you lacked self-discipline? Contrary to popular belief that IQ determines some people's academic performance, self-discipline surpasses IQ in predicting academic performance. The purpose of this article is to define self-discipline, discuss the claim that self-discipline surpasses IQ in predicting academic performance, and provide strategies for maximizing self-discipline in a tertiary learning environment. First, this document will define self-discipline. Second, we will discuss the statement Self-discipline surpasses IQ in predicting academic performance. Finally, strategies for maximizing self-discipline in a tertiary learning environment will be provided. Self-discipline can be defined as doing things to improve yourself. It's the ability to look past present interruptions and immediate gratifications and focus on future goals and what it takes to achieve them. According to Quent (2005) self-discipline is doing things to improve yourself, not because you were told to do it but because you want to achieve your goals. DeVore (1990) defines self-discipline as perseverance toward one's goals; it is the willpower to not give up because of failures, disappointments and setbacks and/or people's options, but to draw motivation from these experiences and pursue goals, no matter how difficult they may be to achieve. As stated by Newstex (2011), self-discipline is about acting the way you think rather than the way you feel in that present moment. In most cases acting the way you think involves sacrificing...... half of the paper ......es IQ in predicting academic performance since the correlations between final grade and self-discipline are greater than the correlations between grades finals an IQ. Students with higher self-discipline are able to outperform their less disciplined peers, even those with higher IQs, because students with self-discipline are able to make wiser decisions involving studying and can separate personal distractions from the performance. Strategies that students in a territorial learning environment can use to maximize self-discipline are the ability to focus and stay on task and work until progress is made, this involves not giving in to distractions and keeping the mind focused on the task . Another strategy is the ability to hold back initial impulses and think about the positive and negative outcomes of the action before it is performed. The final strategy is the ability to delay gratification