Grit Gets it Done

Winners Win - Build Grit & Get to Work

A commonality across winners I’ve known, coached, mentored & looked up to is grit. The ability to persevere & maintain passion while investing time, energy & attention to long-term goals. It’s the fundamental blueprint for success that non-winners ignore: it’s too simple & it’s not easy. You need to take radical accountability & show up for the process, mess up and try again - sometimes for years without seeing a return. It’s inconvenient & it’s only guaranteed if you commit - if you want your goal more than you want distractions & easy dopamine.

While talent & intelligence is important, grit is the lynchpin. Grit is the “ability to maintain consistent effort & interest, over a long period of time, despite obstacles, failures & plateaus”. Luckily, it’s not finite & can absolutely be developed. The book “Grit: the Power of Passion & Perseverance” by Angela Duckworth highlights the need-to-know concepts to harness grit for success.

1. Effort
   Effort is transforms talent. You can outwork your opponents to make up the difference.
   Talent x Effort = Skill
   Skill x Effort = Achievement

2. Passion & Perseverance

   Passion (deep interest) & perseverance (ability to maintain effort, focus & attention despite challenges) are synergistic; passion provides direction & focus while perseverance sustains the journey.

3. Growth Mindset
   People with growth mindset BELIEVE that abilities can be developed through dedication & hard work (which aligns directly with grit); they also bounce back from failure, mistakes & negative feedback by using it all as information for change & redirection. They keep going.

4. Practice (Deliberately)
   Practice does not make perfect, but it does make permanent - with this in mind, focused, goal-oriented & effortful practice aimed at improving is crucial to developing habits, skills & performance resulting in high levels of success.

5. Long-Term & Short-Term Goals
   A hierarchy of goals (a combination of short, mid & long term goals) allows you to get little wins & feedback to fuel the bigger goals. They also shape the journey & may provide clarity in the process, making the success more meaningful.

6. Sustaining “Motivation”*
   Strategies like stretch goals, building routines & finding purpose improves “motivation”.
   Stretch goals (deliberately ambitious objectives), routines (simplicity) & purpose (backbone of the process) can support the “stick” or whether or not you will stay on task.
   
   [*Note: I think the idea of motivation is a built in excuse, especially when talking goals - if you only do well while you’re “motivated” something is really wrong. You either WILL or you WON’T… you should focus on building strategies around success instead!]