I’m a big fan of TED talks. One presentation that caught my eye was a talk by Angela Duckworth was a talk on Grit – you can view the video here.
Angela was a teacher in the NYC school system and she wanted to understand the key factor of why some students failed, and others succeeded. She found that IQ (skill) was not the best indicator for future success. GRIT (or will) was the key aspect required for a student to succeed.
According to Duckworth, there are 5 characteristics of Grit that come into play:
- Courage – not being afraid of failure
- Conscientiousness – being meticulous, plan
- Endurance – having long-term goals and following through
- Resilience – rebounding after failure
- Striving for excellence – but not perfection
The good news is that all of these characteristics can be developed be each of us – we aren’t necessarily born with these traits. While some of us may tend towards these aspects more than others, we can all train ourselves to act this way.
Actionable Idea: The next time you look an a successful individual and think that they are “lucky” or born with skills that you don’t have, think again. They probably “made” their own luck, and so can you.
Look in the mirror and determine how you can get GRITTIER!
Photo by Alan Levine, license: CC BY-SA 2.0
