grit
grit/
noun
courage and resolve; strength of character.
“he displayed the true grit of the navy pilot”
synonyms: courage, bravery, pluck, mettle, backbone, spirit, strength of character, strength of will, moral fiber, steel, nerve, fortitude, toughness, hardiness, resolve, resolution, determination, tenacity, perseverance, endurance;
informal: guts, spunk
“just the grit we’re looking for in a candidate”
As I read countless stories of those that have succeeded in life, there seemed to be a common thread among each one. Yes, they believed in their dreams and goals. They took action on their dreams and goals. And they kept going when the going was tough. In essence, they showed true grit.
It’s that point when the great majority of people would have long gave up, when the truly successful people made a decision to pull themselves up by their “bootstrap” and kept going and going and going. They’d fail and kept going. They’d flop and kept going. They had the mental fortitude to do it. We see this in every single field of endeavor. The best of the best.
I was watching a TEDTalks video recently by Dr. Angela Duckworth in which she talks about the research she did into this thing called “grit” and success. It’s a very good talk. Here’s it is in it’s entirety…
[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8]
Back in World War II, a young, boyish soldiers went from an unknown to winning the Congressional Medal of Honor. Lt. Audie Murphy rose through the ranks and would not have been the poster boy of what an American hero was supposed to look like. He was 6+ feet tall nor did he possess big muscles. He didn’t have that command presence. Still, he did have one thing that most others around him lacked… Grit! It wasn’t that he wanted to become a hero. On the contrary, like many who have won the nation’s highest award, he did it because he wanted to help his fellow soldiers. He knew that the only way to save them and to have a successful mission was to take immediate and consistent action. He did it time and again. At the end of the war, Lt. Murphy (later rising to a major in the Texas National Guard), was one the most decorated and famous soldiers of World War II, having won every single military award of valor by the U.S. and also by Belgium and France. This was all because he showed “true grit.”
By the way, Audie Murphy was best remembered by many for his multitudes of movies (44 of them) he starred in, mostly westerns. Yes, Hollywood wanted him and he was a star in that arena as well. He has a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. It seems that he also showed grit as a star as well.
The greater the challenge faced, those that showed grit were able to overcome those challenges. In her 2007 research, Dr. Angela Duckworth showed that talent alone did not lead to success. It was the application of one’s talent over a period of time that created success. That persistence and determined effort is grit.
“We define grit as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit entails working strenuously toward challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. The gritty individual approaches achievement as a marathon; his or her advantage is stamina. Whereas disappointment or boredom signals to others that it is time to change trajectory and cut losses, the gritty individual stays the course.” ~Duckworth, et. al. (2007)
Ericsson (2007) even added that those that supposedly had innate talent (based on one’s DNA) were actually developed through the consistent and determined effort one gave to a certain field of endeavor. His study was of elite performer in sports and the findings showed that sustained practice and mental fortitude trumped DNA. It’s a reason why we saw short players (such as Spud Webb (5-6) and Muggsy Bogues (5-3) excel in the NBA. In fact, Spud Webb won the 1986 Slam Dunk contest against top stars, such as his Atlanta teammate and defending champion, Dominique Wilkins. I just thought of this, both Audie Murphy and Spud Webb are from Texas. I wonder if there’s “grit” in the water there?
Those that pioneer into new areas also show grit when they sustain those efforts, despite the attacks of others telling them to give up. In fact, those that say things like that have zero grit and will never succeed in whatever they do. We all have come across “grit-less” people, right?
Continuous improvement (in the real sense) is part of grit. As was discovered in the Ericsson study, it’s what you put into life that will determine your outcome. Coach John Wooden described it as being industrious. The hard work factor that seems to be lacking. And he added that giving your best, day in and day out, is the other part of the success factor. Doesn’t that sound like “grit?”
If you really want to succeed towards your dreams and goals, then you’re going to need grit.
Here are some tips to help you develop “true grit” in yourself and to help others do the same:
- Focus on a goal or dream that you’re passionate about. This is important and having the mission-oriented mindset that goes along with it.
- Do the little things, day in and day out, that will enable you to reach your goals.
- Allow yourself to make mistakes. I don’t mean to make the same one’s over and over again. No, what you need to do is to learn from each of your mistakes and failures. When you do that, it become feedback. Successful people learn that way. They realize that the more mistakes they have and learn from, the closer they are to reaching their destination.
- If you fall down, get back up. I mean this even literally. When I fell down earlier this year and broke my nose doing a Parkour jump, it didn’t stop me from doing it again. I simply learned what I did wrong and made my adjustments. So I practice the basics more and have increased strength, flexibility and balance.
- Allow your children and those around you to make mistakes. When you do that, you’re also learning. Who we surround ourselves with helps to change who we are. Risk-takers do that.
- Learn from other risk-takers who kept going after failures.
- Get yourself physically fit in order to be more mentally fit and mentally tough.
- Engage in physical challenges. When you learn to overcome certain physical challenges, you’ll develop grit for other challenges. And I don’t mean going to a gym and working out as you’ve always done. Do something you’ve never done. Yes, learn the basics of it first. And then, go for it in a bigger way. Heck, if you’re scared of heights, then try your hand at skydiving. You want grit? Then, this will help you get it.
- If you’re struggling at something that is at a smaller scale, like learning a new technology platform, instead of giving up, get focused and determined and learn how to do it. If you want to learn a foreign language, then figure how you can do it and keep at until you’ve got it. That is grit.
I will have more ideas that will help you develop grit. I may even have a future training/event/workshop on this. Stay tuned….
Now, go out and get some grit!
Cheers,
Bob Choat
America’s #1 Mind-Body Transformation Expert and author of Mind Your Own Fitness
References:
Duckworth, A.L., Peterson, C., Matthews M.D. and Kelly, D.R. (2007) Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-Term Goals; Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 92, No. 6, (1087–1101)
Ericsson, K.A. (2007) Deliberate practice and the modifiability of body and mind: toward a science of the structure and acquisition of expert and elite performance; International Journal of Sport Psychology, Vol. 38 (4-34)