Grit is a learned behavior that is built over time and through experience.
The power of your mind is inspiring & terrifying. Training it to work for you is a skill that can be developed.
The choice to get up every time we are knocked down fuels determination and perseverance.
The more we are knocked down provides more opportunities to get back up more resourcefully and faster. Training our mind to work for us and not against us.
As Angela Duckworth notes in her book and Ted Talk , Grit is passion and perseverance for long term goals.
The more we cultivate grit; the faster and stronger we regroup when hurdles arrive. This is part of healing.
Grit is characterized by these 5 traits |
Courage | Persistence during danger or hardship, the ability to face difficult things even when there is risk.
Teddy Roosevelt summed up courageousness quite eloquently in 1907, it is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strived valiantly; who errs, who comes again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly.
Conscientiousness | Strives to do what is right and just. This is reflected in people who tend to be responsible, organized, keenly aware, exhibit high self-control, diligent, and goal-oriented.
Perseverance | Steadfastness towards our goals despite obstacles, hurdles & setbacks.
Resilience | Ability to recover or withstand difficulties.
Passion | Belief in our sense of purpose.
Grit is a trait that can be found in a person with a growth mindset. A growth mindset is the belief that ability to learn is not finite, but can instead be cultivated through effort. Individuals with a growth mindset are often eager to tackle challenges, fearlessly persist in the face of difficulty, benefit from constructive feedback & creatively problem solve.
Having a growth mindset involves understanding that taking appropriate risks sometimes leads to failure. The difference, though, is in how a person with a growth mindset defines and rebounds from that failure. –Positive Psychology
Cultivating grit + perseverance requires an individual to objectively learn from their failures and setbacks. It requires one to get up stronger & bounce back faster each time life throws a curveball.
These efforts demand that we see each new challenge as an opportunity to learn. To grow. To heal. Grit & perseverance demand we stay the course even when the road in front of us cannot be clearly seen.
The world will never cease to be chaotic and hurdles will continue to obstruct our path. The ability to cultivate grit, to become steadfast in our determination and resilience, is one of the greatest tools we can cultivate when turbulent circumstances arise.
