She broke it down into a simple formula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Why is it that some people are high achievers who have a track record of success and some people never come close to accomplishing their dreams? Is it talent, luck, or how you were raised? Is it that some people are just gifted and have exceptional talents that others don\u2019t?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The good news is, according to psychologist Angela Duckworth, the most critical factor in being a high achiever has nothing to do with talent or intelligence. It\u2019s how long you can keep getting back up after getting hit. She calls it \u201cgrit\u201d and, according to Duckworth\u2019s research, it\u2019s the common denominator in high achievers across the board, whether it\u2019s cadets at West Point or kids in a spelling bee. Duckworth goes into depth on the topic in her book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cThe common denominator of high achievers, no matter what they\u2019re achieving, is this special combination of passion and perseverance for really long-term goals,\u201d Duckworth revealed on\u00a0The Mel Robbins Podcast.\u00a0\u201cAnd in a word, it\u2019s grit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cPartly, it\u2019s hard work, right? Partly it\u2019s practicing what you can\u2019t yet do, and partly it\u2019s resilience,\u201d she continued. \u201cSo part of perseverance is, on the really bad days, do you get up again? So, if you marry passion for long-term goals with perseverance for long-term goals well then you have this quality that I find to be the common denominator of elite achievers in every field that I\u2019ve studied.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
When pressed to define the specific meaning of grit, Duckworth responded: \u201cIt\u2019s these two parts, right? Passion for long-term goals, like loving something and staying in love with it. Not kind of wandering off and doing something else, and then something else again, and then something else again, but having a kind of North Star.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For anyone who wants to achieve great things in life, grit is an attitude that one can develop for themselves that isn\u2019t based on natural abilities or how well one was educated. Those things matter, of course, but having a gritty attitude is something someone can learn.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cI am not saying that there aren\u2019t genes at play because every psychologist will tell you that\u2019s also part of the story for everything and grit included,\u201d Duckworth said. \u201cBut absolutely, how gritty we are is a function of what we know, who were around, and the places we go.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grit is critical for people to become highly successful because it means that you stick with the task even when confronted with barriers. In every journey of taking an idea that you love and turning it into reality there is going to be what\u2019s known as the\u00a0dark swamp of despair\u2014a place that you must wade through to get to the other side. It takes grit and determination to make it through the times when you fear that you might fail. If it were easy, then everyone could be high achievers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Grit is what keeps people practicing in their room every night as teenagers and makes them an accomplished guitar player. Grit is what makes a basketball player the first one in the gym and the last to leave so that they make the starting lineup. Grit is knocking on the next door after 12 people have just slammed their doors in your face.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The wonderful thing about Duckworth\u2019s work is that it presents an opportunity for everyone willing to do the work. You can no longer use the fact that you may not have specialized intelligence or a God-given talent as an excuse. All you need is perseverance and passion and you have as good a shot as anyone at achieving your dreams.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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