The Key to Success: GRIT

I have a weakness- I love TED Talks! I could listen to a TED talk on any topic. The presenters are engaging, knowledgeable and passionate. I can’t take my eyes off of them the entire talk. It motivates me to think on a deeper level about what they are sharing. I want to dive into the cause and help eradicate change. I want to better myself in the ways that they describe.

It’s no surprise that the latest Ted talk that came across my social media feed had me chomping at the bit to check it out. Angela Lee Duckworth talked about “The Key to Success? Grit.”

Here’s a quick bio on Angela:

“Leaving a high-flying job in consulting, Angela Lee Duckworth took a job teaching math to seventh graders in a New York public school. She quickly realized that IQ wasn’t the only thing separating the successful students from those who struggled. Here, she explains her theory of “grit” as a predictor of success.” (www.ted.com)

At this current moment, this video has 6,498,156 total views. Wow. Just that fact alone, I know this video has got to be good! 

Grit she defines as the following:

• Grit is passion and perseverance for very long term goals
• Grit is having stamina
• Grit is sticking with your future day in, day out not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years. Working really hard to make that future a reality
• Grit is a marathon, not a sprint

Below are some interesting facts she shared through the numerous studies she conducted on what makes a person successful over a long period of time:

• Talent doesn’t make you gritty
• Follow through on your commitments
• Grit is unrelated to measures of talent
• Growth Mind Set- a belief that the ability to learn is not fixed, it can change with your effort
• Persevere when you fail because failure is not a permanent position

What a great lesson for ourselves, but more importantly, for our kids. Many students have a self-fulfilling prophecy of being a failure. They walk into a classroom expecting an F. They walk onto the field or the court expecting to lose. They walk into an interview expecting to not get the job. And they walk into the admissions office expecting a rejection letter.

But, if they knew the truth that Angela shares in this talk, that all could change. They could have talent. They could have brains. They could have talent and brains. But, what if they didn’t have talent nor brains, but never gave up? What if they kept trying harder and in better, more productive ways? What if they created their successful future out of pure determination and perseverance? What if they only possessed GRIT?

As I am writing this, I realize we don’t even know if kids have grit. We know who in our classroom has talent. We know who has the intellectual power. But, its rare that we see grit. Grit has to be modeled, expected, and taught explicitly. Some kids don’t even know that grit exists. What a shame, especially if thats the one attribute that will save them from fulfilling their fear of failure.

Educators, demonstrate grit in your own life. Show children what it means to hang in the game until the buzzer dings. Show them quality study habits for every quiz and test. Show them accepting mistakes and failures, brainstorming what aspects are needed for change, and diving back in head first ready to take on the challenge. Teach them grit by having it yourself. You’ll open a new world of opportunity for them.

Angela ends her talk stating, “we need to take our best ideas, strongest intuitions and test them. We need to measure if we have been successful and be willing to fail, to be wrong, to start over again with lessons learned. In other words we need to be gritty about getting our kids grittier.”

She’s right. We have to be willing to try and to task risks, regardless of what we think will happen. Too much regret occurs when you don’t follow an idea through to see the result. If you fail, try again. If you fail, try again. If you fail…. try again!

Today, I challenge you to define grit for yourself. How can you manifest this in your own life? Then start thinking about how you can help those around you develop grit too. Before you know it, you’ll be surrounded by a strong counsel of gritty, successful people. It will be an honor because you started the change- you used grit to develop grit.  After all, that is the key to success.

How has grit allowed you to become successful in your own life?