“It’s not enough to be passionate or excited to accomplish something. To be truly gritty, that passion needs to be linked to consistent action.” ~John Williams
Have you ever found yourself wondering why some students and adults seem to be able to overcome incredible challenges in life and still move forward, while others face something that just doesn’t seem all that daunting and yet it brings them to a standstill? If so, you’ve been an eyewitness to the coaching and psychological concept of grit.
Grit is a measure of the ability one has to continue putting in hard work over a long period of time on a project or endeavor, regardless of the immediate feedback or outcome. While there is an element of passion for the goal being pursued, grit is also considered a character trait someone exhibits day in and day out.
So why does grit matter? We all face obstacles, setbacks, and unexpected challenges. If we or the students in our lives are prone to giving up when things are hard, we will never be all we could be or get where we want to go. We won’t experience the fulfillment that could be ours through the effort and learned discipline of sticking to something, even when it’s difficult.
So where do you land? Gritty? Kind of gritty? Not all that gritty? Take a minute to find out here. This is a quick and easy 12 question quiz for adults and students alike.
Whether your score was what you figured, or caught you by surprise, the good news is no matter where you are at right now, you can increase your grit with mindful and purposeful action.
How do you do that? It starts with an honest assessment of your current habits, and then it requires purposeful action – small daily steps forward in areas that need work.
Here are some steps to consider as you think about building a greater grit capacity in your life, or the lives of students you interact with:
Step one: Identify if you tend to think in terms of a fixed or growth mindset. If you find yourself operating out of a fixed mindset, create an action to move toward a growth mindset.
Step two: Ask yourself if you really know what you are passionate about . . . if so, how can you tap into that passion to keep going when things are tough? If you don’t know what you are passionate about, what is a step you can take toward discovering it?
Step three: Maintaining motivation is highly important in the pursuit of grittiness. Think through how you recover or rebound when you have “one of those days?” How can you apply that strategy to other areas of life to increase grit?
Step four: Finally, what systems do you have in place to get things done? How can you use those systems to help you move forward? If you don’t have helpful systems, what step can you take today to remedy that?
Grit is a key indicator of the success adults and students alike will ultimately enjoy in life. The effort and work will pay off!
Content is based off of Academic Life Coaching 2.0 TS20 coach training materials. Brenda is an ICF certified Academic Life Coach and trains youth advocates in the Academic Life Coaching 1.0 coach training program. She is an adoptive mom, youth advocate and a licensed therapeutic foster parent. For more information about this program or on how to train as a coach, please click here.
Great information!
Thanks, Krista!
This topic is timely for me because I was just discussing my ability–or lack thereof–to be gritty. I’m more of a sprinter than a marathoner, and as a business owner, that can be rough. I’ve spent about a week of introspection and am learning how to change so that I can be more energetic and purposeful. You provided some great questions to ask myself!
I love that you have been taking time to really think through what changes you need to make to be successful in your business. Being a sprinter is a tremendous asset. Once you build in structures to change up your pace as needed for the long haul, you are going to be unstoppable! 🙂
I certainly recognize that passion needs to be linked to consistent action. That’s not the same as constant action, fortunately!
Absolutely! Consistent action does not mean constant action. Good thing for all of us!
Fun and interesting concept to apply the term gritty to this area. Great list of questions to help determine where we are at. I have to say, my hubby would love for me at age 76 to have less ‘grit’ but I get more determined, consistent, persistent every day. I’ve always participated in ongoing growth programs & am not about to stop. My tombstone might read, “she was all used up’.
Keep going, Roslyn! 🙂
Grit-placing one foot in front of the other and keeping on despite the wind of opposition driving you backwards. If we don’t have something to renew our strength it’s no wonder it’s easy to give up. My family calls it gumption and oomph.
I like your family terms too. . .gumption and oomph. They all matter!
The test to determine your “grit” score was interesting! Thanks for sharing this post. I’m definitely among the growth mindset crowd.
Thanks, Vickie! I’m not surprised you are in the growth mindset crowd. I love how you put yourself out there with your business and help others learn to do the same.
Very interesting. Never heard of the concept of grittiness. It seems to be the same as perseverance.
Thanks, Carol! It’s similar for sure.
Well I am probably somewhere in between a fixed and growth mindset, but quite blurry and disorganized…;-)
There are some easy solutions for blurry and disorganized. If you ever want to chat about it, feel free to email me or give me a call. 🙂
Thanks, will do so then 🙂
Great… I took your gritty test and I’m a 4. I would suggest putting the ones to score together and break out the section because I wrote mine down and had to redo it to calculate the points.. Plus I had to hit back to get to your website again – so open in a new window for something like this. Really cool and great tips too!
Thanks, Kristen. Way to go on being a 4! I imagine you will go far with your business. Thanks for the ideas on how to make the test more user friendly as well.
Great stuff. I think systems are important — systematize and create as much as you can so you can devote your brain power to the really important stuff and for creative endeavors.
Yes! You can accomplish so much more with less stress when you have solid systems in place.
Very interesting blog and discussion! A few years ago I was super proud of my ability to come up with Plan B’s and C’s and D’s, in case my original objective couldn’t be achieved. When my coach challenged me for a big project NOT to have a Plan B, I thought it was suicide. Later I realized, it was all about grit and follow through. Since then I learned that the question is not “what if” but “how to do it, no matter what”. It’s still not that easy to apply this though…
Sounds like you had a great coach, Erika! It’s a powerful shift when you can move from “what if” to “how to, no matter what”. I agree, it isn’t always easy to live there, but so worth the effort!