Grit

Posted on April 23, 2013 by Rosanne Kerr, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

Grit

One term I learned about in Martin Seligman’s book Flourish is Grit. How does Seligman define Grit? Grit is informed by research completed by Angela Duckworth and is defined as:

- a never-yielding form of self-discipline
- high effort because of extreme persistence
- the more grit you have, the more time you spend on the task
- it contributes to innate skill development and progress to goals
- some argue grit is a better indicator of success than IQ.

I love this word. I am one of those people who stared in disbelief when I had a classmate, who received yet another A+; tell me that she did not study. I have usually done well in my studies, but always with a lot of effort. I have to admit to a certain amount of satisfaction when some of these same classmates did not do well in university. Suddenly IQ was not enough, you needed to show some Grit as well. I had Grit and did well. I tell my daughters this story often, because I want to remind them it is not just the marks they receive that deserve praise, but the effort they put into their final results.

It is important that students have the opportunity to be successful, and that they receive praise for working hard toward success. Parents might say you worked really hard to get that great mark, rather than I am glad you got A on your Report Card. This is very important for students with disabilities. Many students with disabilities will never receive an A; yet they should receive as much positive reinforcement as the students who receive top marks, for the effort and persistence they put into working hard to achieve success, while coping with learning challenges.

Grit is a great word to remind us that persistence, hard work, and resilience will pay off in the end. For example, in Malcolm Gladwell’s book Outliers he repeatedly mentions the “10,000-Hour Rule”, based on Dr. K. Anders Ericsson’s research. This research claims that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours.

Gladwell’s book references this when discussing the accomplishments of Bill Gates who met the 10,000-Hour Rule when he gained access to a high school computer in 1968 at the age of 13, and spent 10,000 hours programming. He also quotes the Beatles success who performed live in Hamburg, Germany over 1,200 times from 1960 to 1964, amassing more than 10,000 hours of playing time, therefore meeting the 10,000-Hour Rule. Gladwell asserts that all of the time The Beatles spent performing shaped their talent, and quotes Beatles’ biographer Philip Norman, "So by the time they returned to England from Hamburg, Germany they sounded like no one else. It was the making of them.” These are good examples of the importance of Grit. If we think about those individuals we admire for their expertise and performance in the sports, hobbies or professions we are most engaged in, we will likely find that they have met the 10,000-Hour Rule.

I think grit and resilience go hand in hand. A great story about resilience is the story about the creation of WD-40. Every household has a can of WD-40. Do you know how it got its name? A researcher was trying to find ways of getting rid of moisture before takeoff in rockets – moisture in the wrong place could be disastrous! It was the fortieth attempt at creating an effective solution – hence WD-40. This story reinforces that both grit and resilience are needed to solve problems or be innovative. It highlights the importance of persistence, not giving up and being willing to fail. What if they had stopped at WD-39?

How might we remind ourselves about the importance of grit when working toward our personal and professional goals?

If you are interested in finding out how you rate in regards to Grit visit AuthenticHappiness.org where you can complete the Grit Survey for free – Go to Grit Survey . There are 22 questions to answer and you provided with a score out of five.

References

Seligman, M. E. P. (2011). Flourish: A visionary new understanding of happiness and well-being. New York, NY, US: Free Press.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outliers_(book)