Have you ever undertaken a task that suddenly becomes overwhelming to you? Did you momentarily feel the urge to quit? Was the impulse to quit quickly replaced by a greater urge to keep going and finish what you started?

That something in you that refuses to allow you to be a quitter, regardless of the adversity and the length of time it takes to complete a task, can be referred to as determination or willpower, also known as GRIT.

How gritty are you? How determined are you to be successful or how badly do you want your business to succeed? Are you willing to do everything required to cross the finish line, reach your goals, and achieve your highest potential?

As we have continued to persevere through the COVID-19 pandemic the past 3 years, it’s safe to say we all possess a certain level of grit and endurance.

Angela Lee Duckworth, psychologist, author, and the world’s leading expert on ‘grit’, took an interest in grit and began studying it while teaching math to her seventh graders. Through her observations of her students, she realized IQ was not the only factor separating successful students from those who struggled, and that grit—holding steadfast to a goal through time—was highly predictive of success. (“You’re no genius”: Her father’s shutdowns made Angela Duckworth a world expert on 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.

In her research, Duckworth analyzes short and long-term effects of grit on people’s performance in school, at work, and in personal relationships. She wrote and published her research in Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, a New York Times bestseller documenting how grit predicts long-term success in nearly every realm of life. Duckworth also explained her theory in her informative and viral TED Talk.

According to Forbes there are 5 Characteristics of Grit — How Many Do You Have?

1. Courage: Your ability to manage fear of failure is imperative and a predicator of success.
2. Conscientiousness: Achievement Oriented vs. Dependable:  Conscientiousness in this context means, careful and painstaking; meticulous. In a study, educator L.M. Hough distinguished achievement from the dependability aspects of conscientiousness. He discovered that achievement orientated traits predicted job proficiency and educational success far better than dependability. A self-controlled person who may never step out of line may fail to reach the same heights as their more impulsive friends. Therefore, it is important to commit to go for the gold rather than just show up for practice.
3. Long-Term Goals and Endurance: Follow Through: The context and framework in which to find the meaning and value of your long-term efforts helps cultivate drive, sustainability, passion, courage, stamina…grit.
4. Resilience: Optimism, Confidence, and Creativity: Optimism + Confidence + Creativity = Resilience = Hardiness = (+/-) Grit. So, while a key component of grit is resilience, resilience is the powering mechanism that draws your head up, moves you forward, and helps you persevere despite whatever obstacles you face along the way. In other words, gritty people believe, “everything will be alright in the end, and if it is not alright, it is not the end.”
5. Excellence vs. Perfection: In general, gritty people don’t seek perfection, but instead strive for excellence. Excellence allows for disappointment and prioritizes progress over perfection.

If you are still unsure if you possess this unique personality trait, answer 10 quick questions from Duckworth’s Grit Scale to receive a score that reflects how passionate and persevering – gritty you see yourself to be.

After receiving your Grit Scale score that reflects your level of determination, contact us at iSeek Solutions. We’d love to hear from you! Grit is a consistent attitude about seeking, striving, discovering, and never yielding. Wherever you land on the Grit Scale allow it to be a starting point and a catalyst for you to develop and foster your grittiness.

iSeek Solutions is happy to assist you and/or your business/organization with the process of seeking, striving, discovering, and never yielding. Let’s connect and collaborate!

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