Essay: Grit, the key to outstanding achievements
Contents
True grit and great successes
The clinical psychologist and certified school psychologist Caren Baruch-Feldman, PhD describes grit as "the ability to persist in something you feel passionate about and persevere when you face obstacles".[1]
Angela Lee Duckworth is an American academic, psychologist, and science author. She is also the Rosa Lee and Egbert Chang Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, where she focuses on studying grit and self-control. She is also the Founder and former CEO of not-for-profit organizationCharacter Lab whose mission is to advance the science and practice of character development.
According to Jocelyn K. Glei's article The Future of Self-Improvement, Part I: Grit Is More Important Than Talent:
“ | Intrigued by what qualities would most accurately predict outstanding achievement, Harvard researcher Angela Duckworth picked up where Walter Mischel left off. ...Duckworth found that self-control is an excellent predictor of your ability to follow through on certain types of difficult tasks — staying on your diet, studying for a test, not checking your email — but it’s not the most important factor when it comes to predicting success at “extremely high-challenge achievement.”
...Duckworth isolated two qualities that she thought might be a better predictor of outstanding achievement: 1. The tendency not to abandon tasks from mere changeability. Not seeking something because of novelty. Not “looking for a change.” 2. The tendency not to abandon tasks in the face of obstacles. Perseverance, tenacity, doggedness.[2] |
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According to the Character Lab, being gritty means
1. Finishing what you begin.
2. Staying committed to your goals.
3. Working hard even after experiencing failure or when you feel like quitting.
4. Sticking with a project or activity for more than a few weeks.[3]
How to grow grit?
1. Cultivate a growth mindset and optimism.
2. Focus on improving your performance while you are engaging in various endeavors related to your goals.
3. Stay passionate about your purpose.
4. Know when you have achieved your maximum potential in an area and are not quitting due to frustration.[4]
Desire for excellence, repetitive failing, analysis and corrective actions: A key to great success
“ | What separates those who accomplish outstanding feats from those who don’t? According to author and researcher Joshua Foer, it’s the dedication and willpower to doggedly push beyond the “OK Plateau.” When most of us learn a new skill, we work to get just “good enough” and then we go on autopilot.
We hit what Foer calls the “OK Plateau,” where we have gained sufficient skills for our needs; at which point, we stop pushing ourselves. But experts – those who excel beyond all others in their fields – do it differently. Foer identified four principles that he saw the experts using to remain alert and to keep learning: 1. Experts tend to operate outside their comfort zone and study themselves failing. 2. Experts will try to walk in the shoes of someone who’s more competent than them. 3. Experts crave and thrive on immediate and constant feedback. 4. Experts treat what they do like a science. They collect data, they analyze data, they create theories, and they test them. In essence, those who excel beyond the pack are pushing themselves continually so that they are never on autopilot. As Foer posits in the last point, there are very much like scientists in a lab – constantly reflecting on the data, formulating new hypotheses, testing them, and then analyzing the outcome.[5] |
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Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth - Book summaries
- Grit Summary by ForMinutebooks.com
- Grit Book Summary, Review, Notes, GrowThatHabit.com
- Grit by Angela Duckworth by Samuel T. Davis
- Grit Summary, Lilcharts.com
- Book Summary – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance By Readingraphics
Videos:
- Video summaries: Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance - video playlist
Seth Godin on failing
“ | "But what if I fail?"
You will. The answer to the what if question is, you will. A better question might be, "after I fail, what then?" Well, if you've chosen well, after you fail you will be one step closer to succeeding, you will be wiser and stronger and you almost certainly will be more respected by all of those that are afraid to try.[6] - Seth Godin |
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External links on grit/persistence
Importance of Grit:
- Angela Lee Duckworth - Grit/persistence - video playlist
- Perseverence/grit is more important for “extremely high-challenge achievement”/"greatness" than talent
- Student Test Scores Show That 'Grit' Is More Important Than IQ
Grit factors:
Relationship between Grit and self-control:
- Relationship between Grit and self-control
- Self-Control and Grit Related but Separable Determinants of Success
Relationship between grit, self-control and engaging in limiting behaviors:
- Relationship between grit, self-control and engaging in limiting behaviors
- Relationship between grit, self-control and engaging in limiting behaviors
Developing Grit:
- Developing grit/perseverence - playlist
- How to foster Grit
- True Grit: The Best Measure of Success and How to Teach It
- Factors that cause Grit
- Grit - character Lab
- Developing grit
- Happiness tip - developing grit
- How to develop true grit
- Grit Trumps Talent and IQ: A Story Every Parent (and Educator) Should Read - plus Grit strategies
- Why Tough Teachers Get Good Results, WSJ, 2013
- Unlocking Grit
- 8 tips to grow Grit
- Grit: The skills for success and how they are grown
- The Science of Developing Mental Toughness in Your Health, Work, and Life by James Clear
- Use the gym to develop true grit
- Entrepreneurial persistence
Books related to Grit:
- The Grit Project: Ingredients of Perseverance [Kindle Edition] by Gerry Stoltzfoos
- The Willpower Instinct: How Self-Control Works, Why It Matters, and What You Can Do to Get More of It by Kelly McGonigal Ph.D., 2013
- Willpower: Regain Your Self-Control and Rediscover Your Willpower Instinct (Empowerment Book Series) by Allison Perry, Paperback – March 31, 2014
- Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength by Roy F. Baumeister, Paperback – August 28, 2012
Resiliency
- Resiliency - playlist
- Finding meaning in difficult times (Interview with Dr. Viktor Frankl) - Decision/action/freedom/responsibility; Despair = Suffering - Meaning. Meaning - For what purpose is this happening? Ultimate meaning/theology.
External links on overcoming fear of failure and avoiding unnecessary failures
- Scared Of Failing? Ask Yourself These 6 Fear-Killing Questions
- The 10 Reasons Why We Fail, Forbes
- What if I fail? by Johanna Rothman
Notes
- ↑ What is grit, and why is it important? by Caren Baruch-Feldman, PhD
- ↑ The Future of Self-Improvement, Part I: Grit Is More Important Than Talent by Jocelyn K. Glei[1]
- ↑ Character Lab - Grit
- ↑ Character Lab - Grit
- ↑ The Future of Self-Improvement, Part II: The Dilemma of Coaching Yourself
- ↑ "But what if I fail?" by Seth Godin