>>12979513At least for success in math and physics it seems to get to the top you need intelligence and obsessiveness with the subject which leads to hard work but not through willpower. If you need to motivate yourself to study these things its already over.
Mrs. Feynman won a divorce on cruelty grounds after testifying that her husband worked calculus problems all day,” the copy read. He did math “as soon as he arose, while he drove his car,” even “while lying in bed at night.”