My research examines two traits that predict success in life: grit and self-control. Grit is the tendency to sustain interest in and effort toward very long-term goals (Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, & Kelly, 2007). Self-control refers to the voluntary regulation of behavioral, emotional, and attentional impulses (Duckworth, 2011).

Good summary on the concept of Grit and it's correlation to student success

For as long as she could remember, Vanessa Brewer had her mind set on going to college. The image of herself as a college student appealed to her - independent, intelligent, a young woman full of potential - but it was more than that; it was a chance to rewrite the ending to a family story that went off track 18 years earlier, when Vanessa's mother, then a high-achieving high-school senior in a small town in Arkansas, became pregnant with Vanessa.