I recently read Atomic Habits and there was a great chapter in there about people with a strong ability to self discipline. It raised the question: are people who have a strong sense of self discipline, better about architecting their environment for success? The would lead to less distractions and more work towards their intended goal.
I think the book you're talking about is Atomic Habits by James Clear. I just finished it this month and it's terrific. The story of Japanese Train Conductors stuck out to me as well. Clear also has a terrific blog, which is where many of the content for the book was pulled from.
I went to Clear Lake from 2001-2004. Lot's of friends with relations to NASA and supporting industries. Sad I can't remember the soccer ball being on display.
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