How Gritty are You?
Shaun White reclaimed his Olympic title winning his third gold medal in men’s halfpipe in the Winter Games 2018 at Pyeongchang. Having won gold medals in 2006 at Turin, in 2010 at Vancouver, he missed the mark in 2014 at Sochi, coming in 4th place. He applied himself painstakingly to the task of reclaiming his title. He had accidents during practice in New Zealand last year sustaining severe injuries and the last one splitting his face open requiring 62 stitches! Yet, he persevered. He has a passion for snowboarding and he had his sights set on the gold. “Honestly I just felt it inside that I had it..……I knew I had it, but I still had to do it,” Shaun White said in an interview. What would you call that combination of passion and perseverance to achieve your goals?
Angela Lee Duckworth, PhD, professor of psychology, University of Pennsylvania, had heard from her father growing up, “You are no genius”. Yet, in 2013 she won the $650,000 MacArthur fellowship also known as the ‘Genius Grant’. The irony was not lost on her. She studied this quality that seems to rise above aptitude and intelligence to lead a person to success.
In her TED talk, April 2013, New York, she gave examples of studies done in different contexts: West Point cadets, spelling bee participants, teachers in tough neighborhoods, sales personnel in private companies. The studies found across these diverse domains of business, military and education, that it was not talent, IQ, social intelligence, good looks or physical health that led people to succeed. It was Grit.
Dictionary meaning is “indomitable spirit; firmness of character; unyielding courage”. Duckworth defines it as “Grit is the passion and perseverance for very long term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out – for years.” In fact she believes that grit is unrelated (or even inversely related) to measures of talent. It is a “significant predictor of success”. That certainly defies conservative notions of what it takes to succeed.
To be gritty you can learn to:
- Create determination and direction
- Strive for endurance and excellence
- Drive diligence and hard work
- Have the courage to fail and persist
It is not something you are born with. It is something learned and cultivated. She believes Carol Dweck’s ‘Growth Mindset’ is the best way to build it. “We need to take our best ideas, our strongest intuitions and we need to test them. Be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start all over again with lessons learned.”
What is your passion? What will it take for you to persevere? What do you have to do to believe “I am getting better at this”? What is your grit score? Take this quick Grit Scale . Set your mark and get gritty. After all, “Grit is living life like it is a marathon, not a sprint.”