My Values: Why is Grit an Important Trait?

/ɡrɪt/ courage and resolve; strength of character.

I remember standing in front of five large piercing lights, looking down the barrel of a TV camera, about to perform a 'piece to camera'  report for my university communications paper and not realising I was about to learn one of the greatest lessons of my life.  I had butterflies in my stomach, but actually the rest of my body was quietly confident.    I could hear the director counting me down, and by my next breath my  broadcasting career had begun.

Broadcasting is a weird skill, often reporters have to speak, while listening and responding to a completely different conversation in their ear-piece.  I could hear the director talking in my ear.   "She's a natural talent",  I heard him say.  Talent?  Natural?  I knew what he'd said was a positive statement, but I didn't understand the significance.

I probably was naturally talented at broadcasting, but over time I lacked sustainability. 

After a while my passion for broadcasting was gone, and I forged a new passion.  We live in communities that are impressed by people with natural talent.  Although I count myself in the group of people cheering on the next great talented player, I have learned that perseverance, determination and grit are more likely to predict future success than 'talent' alone.

Grit is a personality trait that is determined by a person's perseverance and passion for their long-term goals.  Grit is achieved by not giving up on a goal until it's completed.  Research by Angela Duckworth shows that without sustainable effort, personal talent becomes ineffective.  This is because the long-term practice of a skill produces mastery and greater results, than the initial display of personal flare.  People who have grit are able to encourage themselves through the hard times, and persevere over a long period of time, until they have mastered their goals and aspirations.   The secret to success... true grit.

Grit is... sticking with your future day in day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years. And working really hard to make that future a reality - Angela Duckworth

How to develop Grit:

Purpose:  Determine 'why' you are wanting to achieve a goal.  The purpose, or 'why', is the bigger idea of why you are embarking on your journey.  Your bigger picture gives meaning and purpose to your daily practice, until your goal is achieved.

Practice:  Mastering a skill means that we need to continually practice the skill until we are an expert.  Daily practice provides scaffolding for the next attempt, and helps to build a skill-base quicker than casual engagement.  Experts once started as daily students, practicing their skill over and over until the brain created 'automaticity' (or the movement, or memory was automatic.)

Motivation:  Finding motivational resources to inspire you to keep going is important.  Grit means you are going to commit to the 'on-going' process, inspirational resources 'fuel' your 'energy tanks' are low and help you persevere.

Time:  Malcolm Gladwell in the book Outliers examined the practice mastery and concluded that experts take 10,000 hours to master their skill.  Grit is the key component to mastery and is developed over time.  True grit is found in students that hang in there when others give up.  Time provides the student with the space to develop perseverance and become successful at what they do.

#grit #perseverance #motivation #spokeinsight