“What is grit? Grit is refusing to give up. It’s persistence. It’s making your own luck.” – Peter H. Diamandis
Grit is the ability to overcome difficulties in pursuit of an important long term goal. The more grit you have, the more successful you will ultimately be in your life. Grit helps you to weather the storms and keep moving forward.
We admire people who have True Grit. Michael Jordan was cut from his high school basketball team. But he refused to give up, and eventually became one of the greatest athletes of all time. Thomas Edison was sent home from school for being a slow learner. He went on to become one of the most successful inventors in American history. Helen Keller lost her sight and hearing early in her life, but with the help of Anne Sullivan, she became the first deaf-blind person to earn a bachelor’s degree. She became an influential author, activist, and educator.
What if we don’t have grit? Or what if we do and want to develop it even more? According to psychologists, there are a few habits you can develop, some reframing, and refocusing you can do to develop your “grit muscle.”
First: Clarify your purpose. What kind of person do you want to be? What do you want to achieve? What do you want to be remembered for at the end of your life? Think seriously about this, write it down and refer to it often.
Focus on growth rather than results. Make some small progress every day, and celebrate that. Don’t keep focusing on what you haven’t achieved yet. Keep your eye on the prize and keep moving forward. That’s the sign of a true winner!
Be consistent. Consistency beats intensity. Have a farmer’s mindset. A little bit every day. You can’t grow a field in a week. Consistency is your greatest ally on your road to success.
Face your demons. Don’t give up when you run into challenges. Turn it into a game and figure out how to win. Usually those monsters we fear so much turn out to be tiny lizards.
Develop resilience. We all get knocked down from time to time. Have a plan in place to get back up when it happens to you. Have supportive friends, or keep a journal, or go work out. Do something. Keep moving. The quickest way to overcome a setback is to get back up and start doing something.
Discipline beats motivation. Don’t wait for the muse to inspire you. Do the work. Now. Get started. If you have writers block. Fill a page with a nonstop stream of thoughts. The motion is what matters. Are you noticing a pattern here?
Find a support community. Often times your friends will hold you back. Find friends who will call you forward. If you want to get in shape, go to the gym. If you want to improve your technical chops, join, or form, a group of like-minded developers and help each other grow.
Keep score. Keep track of measurable improvements. How much time did you spend practicing this week? How many pages have you read? How many programs have you written? The scoreboard doesn’t lie. And if you’re honest with yourself in keeping track, you’ll notice when things are not working and be able to make the necessary changes.
For more information, I recommend Angela Duckworth’s book Grit or her TED Talk.
What do you do to develop grit?