Persistence beats smarts. Desire precedes skills.
And grit is the magical combination of both.
Turns out grit is also the number one predictor of success among high-performing individuals and groups.
Grit is the perseverance and passion for long-term goals. It’s that spark within all of us that compels us to keep learning, practicing and building new skills.
Grit is good, no question. So how can we get more of it?
Angela Duckworth is a professor at the University of Pennsylvania and author of “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” Here are the five main things she’s found that can help all of us develop more grit:
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Pursue what interests you. It’s hard to stick with something over the long haul if you don’t care. So the first step to grittiness is finding something that deeply interests you.
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Deliberate practice. Hard work develops skill, and we’re more likely to stick with things we’re good at. But we must be willing to diligently practice.
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Find purpose. The difference between someone who is just a hard worker and somebody who has real grit is that the latter finds meaning in what they do. And that meaning usually involves serving others.
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Have hope. This isn’t just wishing things will go well. Duckworth says you need an active type of hope. You must believe things will improve because you’re going to improve them.
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Join a gritty group. Hang out with gritty people or join a gritty company and it will rub off on you.
So you do all of these things and become a paragon of grit. That’s good.
But there is another important by-product of grittiness: Happiness.
Duckworth surveyed 2,000 people and the results were clear: “I found that the grittier a person is, the more likely they’ll enjoy a healthy emotional life.”
Have a great week.
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