Recently, I had the chance to observe the true meaning of grit first hand and it got me thinking: ‘What do we all need to do so we can apply grit and amplify our career results?’  Angela Duckworth author of the book, Grit, has inspired thousands of people to discover how success is more than talent and IQ. Duckworth describes in her book, how people who are successful in their careers have two characteristics: passion and perseverance.  Whether you are looking to get promoted, or if you are a parent wanting to inspire a child, this episode is all about how to find your Grit and what to do for yourself or your family to become “grittier” and influence true potential.

Here is a first-hand observation of grit in action.  It was a warm fall evening this past week and my daughter’s field hockey team-who is JV - was playing a varsity team.  For a little context-this is her team’s third year as a sport in her high school and many of the players are new athletes and have never played the game before.  The coach assured our team that while they were varsity – in reality the players were closer to a JV team.  It was the team’s senior night-the most celebrated evening for a team where the players can shine for their parents and families. 

For any of the listeners out there with kids who play sports-or if you yourself played sports-the next portion of the story will resonate I am sure.  Our team was down a goalie, we had a lot of sick and injured players and we “borrowed” a former goalie to help us out and not forfeit the game.

After the senior announcements, the girls took to the field.  Our team was in position and then it started-two seniors competing for the most goals against our team.  You can envision this-score after score-they totally crushed us.  At the end of the second half with only 37 seconds left to play-and a score of 14-0 on the score board-one of the seniors took her final shot for a 15th goal.  The announcer was so embarrassed he didn’t even say her name.

During this entire hour of play, I watched my daughter’s team smile at each other.  They encouraged and cheered one another on.  In short, they simply never gave up.  Despite the odds, and when it was clear that not only would scoring be a long shot (I know sorry about the pun!)  but defending these skilled players was like climbing mount Everest.  And yet- and yet, they pushed on-and even were hugging at the end of the game. 

I usually don’t share personal stories on this podcast, but thought we can all be inspired and learn how to tap into GRIT and make things happen we might have otherwise thought impossible by this team’s unwavering commitment.  Now-let’s apply this idea to your work and life-using Angela Duckworth’s model for grit and the grit scale. 

10 Things to Know about Grit:

1. Grit predicts success and it goes beyond IQ and Talent. People with grit are able to move past setbacks to achieve your goals and find success.
2. Effort is a multiplier that indicates success rates. Duckworth identifies the following two equations: talent x effort = skill and skill x effort = achievement.
3. Test your grit and measure how gritty you are on the grit scale. How did you score?  Did it surprise you?
4. Grit is something you can change. Don’t focus on the score-look at what you can do to improve so you can accomplish your dreams.
5. Four characteristics to having grit: Interest, practice, purpose and hope.
6. Goal setting should exceed your comfort zone.
7. Tapping into your purpose will help you achieve success beyond personal gain.
8. Optimism is key to feeling hopeful and it helps us realize we can push past adversity.
9. Environment and Extracurricular activities contribute to our having grit.
10. Culture and the people with whom we associate influence our application of grit in our careers.

For more information on how you can have more grit in your career, reach out to me, I am here to help!  Looking for more episodes like this one-check out this episode with Laine Mann-How to Tap Into Your Brave, and visit Rock Your Trade Show where you will find tips and  empowering strategies for trade show event marketing and careers.

Credits:

As always, a special thanks to Christy Haussler and team podcast for editing this episode.

Angela Duckworth's book Grit