Grit : The Secret of Success |

Grit : The Secret of Success

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Success. The long-term goal for all. How to achieve it?
Luck? Hard work? Intelligence? Knowledge? Grit?

Yes, Grit! Grit is one of the most important factors contributing to success. A lot of people focus on other factors and forget about Grit. Making it a secret ingredient. Grit is the real secret of success!

What is Grit?

Grit is passion and perseverance for long-term goals. A talented person may lack luck. A lucky person may lack hard work. One may easily give up. But a person with grit will be persistent.
Grit is like holding a very heavy compass for all time that makes it difficult to walk faster through a long route, just because it gives perfect direction and meaning towards your destination.

Why Grit?

Grit is the ultimate concern for a goal. It means to pursue something with consistency of interest and effort. Gritty people are able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods despite experiences of failure and adversity.
As compared to other factors of success, grit is very personal. You can be talented and lucky in many other goals but you may not be as gritty about a particular goal. It is said to be a better predictor of success by Angela Duckworth, a psychologist and professor at the University of Pennsylvania.

Grit in microscope

Grit is a combination of – self-control and conscientiousness. On a psychometric scale, if a person scores high either in both, or in any of these two characteristics, then the person is high on grit. Although studies have also shown that even if these two are constant, grit can be high. So, is grit in genes? The debate will go on as for researchers grit is a recent expedition.

We all have different levels of grit within ourselves. Thinking about what level of grit you have? Just look back how long have you come for your goal or simply take up our short test –

I am a hardworking person – Yes | No
I continue the task to reach the goal despite failures – Yes | No
I regulate myself according to the long-term goal I have set – Yes | No

If you have answered all yes, you have higher levels of Grit. If you haven’t, well, you need to work on your Grit.

How to level up your grit?

If we have different levels of grit, then can one increase it with practice? How can grit be strengthened ? Researchers suggest to follow upon these steps to practice grit –

Interest – Search for your interests that fascinates you. Goals are not only to be achieved but also to be enjoyed.
Mentor – Role model, teacher/coach or mentor will help you to improve and learn something new. Be open to taking on new challenges and feedback.
Practice – Gritty people are hardworking, they practice consistently. Upskilling is important and practicing skills is most important.
Higher Purpose – Having a goal that will benefit others, gives you a sense of accomplishment and helps to enjoy the journey. Doing good for others is motivating and fulfilling in all terms.
Hope – Toughest part is being hopeful. But believe in yourself. You will achieve it one day for sure. The most difficult tasks seemed to be impossible at first but what made them happen is hope.
Visualize – Rarely given advice is to visualize how you will feel when you would achieve your goal, although positive psychology does suggest such activity.

| Close your eyes and imagine what the scene would look like, what feelings and emotions you feel and what would you do to celebrate. Wasn’t that scene fabulous! Now let’s make it happen. |
Interest, practice, hope and purpose all four are pillars to form a strong grit for your long-term goal. The long days and evenings of toil, the setbacks and disappointments, the struggle, the sacrifice—all this is worth it because, ultimately, the efforts of gritty people pay dividends to other people.

Grit Vs Values

Here fascinates me the question of values – is grit superior to the values like honesty, loyalty, kindness, fulfillment, creativity, etc? Gritty people may or may not hold these values. It depends on an individual and their personal values. Having grit with these values can lead to more ethical sense behind the purpose of the goal. Any person with high grit can achieve goals but an ethically sound person with high grit will bring revolutionary change and build a better place for all, maybe knowingly or unknowingly just by achieving that goal.

Is grit enough?

But is the purpose behind the goal enough for grit? Does everyone in society have the same levels of grits? In the shortfall of evidence, we are still to arrive at other factors that contribute to the level of grit in a person.
A student who is hungry or scared, will not be as attentive and emotionally sound in a classroom as compared to any other student. Similarly, we can perhaps say that a person’s girt may be influenced by their social, cultural and economic background as they do to any other personality trait or to any other factor of success.

Is grit only a strand for success in career goals?

Other than career as a whole, grit can work wonders in everyday life too. A person doing a monotonous or clerical job having good levels of grit will focus on achieving the end and larger result. When it comes to workplace or marital relationships, grit is one the factors that helps an individual in showing up emotionally and/or physically in spite of constant adversities.
We can learn grit everyday from a lot of people around us – family, friends, colleagues, etc. The struggle stories showcase the most gritty behaviors – the focus, the distraction, the set back, the bouncing back, the reminder of purpose, and the years of consistent hard work.

Author

Shravani Ahir

Shravani is an enthusiast for psychology and human resources, passionate about research. She has been training in counselling and human resource management. She believes that people are capable of achieving great heights when they support each other.