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Do You Have The Grit To Succeed?

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, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.”
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, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.”
Do You Have The Grit To Succeed?

In this week’s Success Newsletter, I would like to reveal the greatest predictor of your success and how to build that trait.

First a quick update:

The Breakup Test
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What Will You Regret At The End Of Your Life?
At the end of your life, what will you regret? Will you regret what you did or what you didn’t do? I know what you will regret not having done. Watch my video

Now, let’s talk about the greatest predictor of your success and how to build that trait.

What is the greatest predictor of your success?

Is it social intelligence, good looks, physical health, luck, opportunity, IQ, EQ or natural talent?

Although, all of those are important ingredients for success, the greatest predictor of your success is grit!

“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, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
Angela Duckworth, author of “Grit”

Do you downplay the significance of grit?

Most people, including managers and Human Resources in business suffer from “Naturalness Bias” – they have a hidden preference for natural talent over hard work and grit. In other words, they will hire the person they believe has natural talent even if he/she is less qualified and less experienced than a person who has used grit to succeed and whom clearly demonstrates a hard-work ethic.

This is the same fallacy from which many people suffer: the belief that talent is more important than grit – passion and perseverance. And it is clearly connected to the false belief that failure is permanent.

However, the reality is that if you choose to have a “growth mindset” you recognize that the ability to learn is not fixed; the brain changes and grows in response to challenge. Therefore, you are much more likely to persevere when you fail if you accept that failure is not a permanent condition.

Are you gritty?

A person with ‘grit’ maintains high levels of determination and motivation over long periods despite experiences with failure and adversity; a gritty person is resilient – he/she bounces back and beyond with renewed force and wisdom.

How To Build Grit
Talent doesn’t make you gritty; many talented people do not follow through on their commitments. What makes you gritty?

Where is your compass pointing? What is your primary life goal or concern? What is your goal that you believe will contribute to the wellbeing of others – a positive difference in other people’s lives? Do your smaller goals support the one main goal?

Grit is influenced by genes, but it is also influenced by experience. Researcher and psychologist, Angela Duckworth, believes that 4 keys are required to build grit.

1. Interest – What do you enjoy? Engage in introspection, and interaction with the world to find what interests you and what your passion is.

2. Practice – Engage in deliberate practice to improve your skills and to achieve your goal

3. Purpose – What is your intention to contribute to the well-being of others? For example, are you just laying bricks, or laying bricks to build a church, or laying bricks to build the house of God? i.e. find meaning in what you do. How does your current work connect and align with your values? “Find a goal you care about so much that it organizes and gives meaning to almost everything you do.”

4. Hope – Begin with a Growth Mindset (you can enhance intelligence and talent – failure is not permanent – talent is simply the rate at which a person improves in skill), engage in Optimistic Self-Talk, and choose Perseverance Over Adversity (ask for help and lean on your social support network)

Finally, note that identity also plays a critical role in whether or not you will be gritty; how do you perceive yourself? What type of person are you (how do you label yourself)? Change your self-perception, image and identity to identify yourself as someone who is gritty – full of passion and perseverance!

“I will tell you that we’re looking for great competitors. That’s really where it starts. And that’s the guys that really have grit. The mindset that they’re always going to succeed, that they’ve got something to prove. They’re resilient, they’re not going to let setbacks hold them back. They’re not going to be deterred, you know, by challenges and hurdles and things…It’s that attitude – we really refer to it as grit. Come and watch us. All we do is help people be great competitors. We teach them how to persevere. We unleash their passion. That’s all we do.”
– Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, day after winning the Super Bowl XLVIII, February 2, 2014.

If you need help to overcome subconscious blocks to being gritty or to overcome self-sabotaging beliefs, book a one-on-one session with me.

You can add to the conversation below.

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I wish you the best and remind you “Believe in yourself -You deserve the best!”

Patrick Wanis Ph.D.
Celebrity Life Coach, Human Behavior & Relationship Expert & SRTT Therapist

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