Introduction
Grit plays a vital role in the development of our sense of self. It drives us to achieve more, reach new boundaries, and build an impressive set of skills.
Having inborn talent and smarts is great! But to truly achieve anything significant in life, you need to learn how to persevere in good times and bad.
With grit, talent is nothing but a pile of unmet potential. By developing grit, you know when to stand up for yourself and when to let things slide. You also become more determined to put in as much effort as possible to get where you want to go.
In this post, we’ll talk about 10 tips to help you develop grit. We’ll also help you figure out how to stick with the things that really matter, keep working hard even after experiencing failure, and bounce back from any setbacks. Let’s dive in.
What Is Grit
Researcher and psychology professor, Angela Duckworth, defines grit as a combination of “resilience, ambition, and self-control in the pursuit of goals.” Mind you, this pursuit can take months, years, or even longer.
Yet, what’s really striking about grit is that this sustained passion and persistence comes from within. In other words, when you have grit, you have no concern for recognition, awards, or acknowledgment from anyone. You’re the one who gets to control your sense of self-control and determination.
10 Tips To Develop Grit
Developing grit isn’t something you can do in a week or even a month. This is something that’ll take time, but it’ll be worth it. To help get you started, we rounded the top 10 tips to develop grit. Take a look.
Identify Your Strengths
The secret to building grit, boosting perseverance, and enhancing your determination is to play to your strengths. Start by identifying what those strengths are, then work to improve them one at a time. Some people believe you need to spend more time building up your weaknesses. That’s a myth. We’re all built differently, and we each come with our personalized set of strengths and weaknesses. If you focus on improving your weakness, nothing will change. This lack of change isn’t because you’re not smart or hard-working. It’s because you’re not skilled in that particular area and may not even be interested in it.
In fact, the absence of progress or improvement may make you feel ill-equipped to do anything at all. So, you end up feeling anxious, depressed, and unworthy. If anyone tells you to work on your weaknesses, ignore them. Instead, focus more on understanding your personal strengths. Then, improve on them and use them to grow and become the best version of yourself.
Stick with What You Know
Building grit isn’t about knowing everything about everything. No one can do it. It’s more about honing your skill sets and expertise in the one field you’re passionate about and know the most about. For example, if you’re really into coding. Go out there and learn everything there is to know about this specific field. You’ll quickly realize that there are gaps in your knowledge, which makes you excited to look for answers and learn more. Over time, you’ll find yourself growing that certain bank of knowledge, much like Steve Jobs, Warrant Buffet, and Bill Gates. You might even find new interests that spark your curiosity along the way. Then, you’ll become motivated to learn new things and grow a new base of knowledge.
Step Outside Your Comfort Zone
Just putting in the effort to go outside your comfort zone will help you develop grit. It challenges you to do something unfamiliar, maybe even a little scary. But that’s where you really learn about yourself and what you’re capable of. So, the next time an opportunity comes around where you can do something discomforting, go for it, even if you don’t feel ready for it. That sense of being prepared will never come until you take that first step and jump in. Then, you’ll either become ready or you’ll learn something from the process.
Build Solid Routines
No one ever got hurt from being organized, creating a routine, and managing their time wisely. Having a routine gives your life structure and a purpose, which are both invaluable for developing grit. Say you want to start working out more. Yet, you wake up each day with a sense of dread that you’re going to the gym. You hate going to the gym, and you especially hate doing squats and burpees. We know how you feel because we’ve all been there. But just remember that these are just feelings. While your feelings are certainly important, sometimes, they can get in your way and prevent you from doing the things that can help you move forward in life.
When this happens, you have to learn to adjust your feelings so that they can become more positive. For starters, forget about the gym. You can get in a terrific workout right in the comfort of your own home. Start with a five-minute warm-up, followed by a minute of walking in place. Next, move to a light jog for about 30 seconds and finish it up with 20 jumping jacks.
How do you feel? If you think that you can keep going, then, by all means, continue your workout.
If you can’t, just stop for the day. Then, repeat the same routine tomorrow and add another 30 seconds of jogging or another 10 jumping jacks, whichever you’re more comfortable doing. The important thing is to ease slowly into your routine, much like a ramp. Eventually, you’ll be able to build it up and create healthy habits you can be proud of.
Look Inward
Every time you sit down to start a work-related project or cook dinner, you’ll notice that you sometimes get this feeling of lack of motivation. You get distracted by the slightest of things and feel like it’s not worth time and effort.
We’re not going to sugarcoat it; developing grit and staying on course is no easy task. This is especially true if you have friends or family members out having fun while you’re spending your weekends honing your craft. Yet, this is when you need to stop looking outward and focus inward instead. Remind yourself why you started in the first palace and what you want to achieve at the end of it all.
Know Your Baseline
No one can know where they need to go if they don’t know where they currently stand. You also have no way of measuring your progress because you can’t see how far you’ve come. To know your baseline, you have to determine your starting point. To do that, you have to determine how much knowledge and expertise you need to have in order to develop whatever skill you’re building.
Once you know that, you can then assess where you are as opposed to where you need to be. Next, make a list of each area you want to focus on in relation to the skill you have in mind. Then, focus on only one thing at a time. This will help you stay on track and allow your progress to be systematic and deliberate.
Get into the Habit of Doing the Work
People often take for granted all the hard work that goes into someone’s success. For example, Michael Jordan didn’t become a worldwide celebrity just because he has a nice smile. He put in the effort, or the input measures, every single day, year after year. Even when he became famous, he still practiced every day because he knew what he had to do to reach his goals. This applies to everyone who’s ever made it in their field. They wrote down their goals, followed by a list of the things they had to do to achieve those goals. They didn’t always reach their goals. But they did put in the effort, which opened the doors to new possibilities and, ultimately, new goals. This way of thinking defines your success based solely on your actions. So, you’re not a big shot because you got an award for being a great public speaker. Instead, your success comes from putting in the effort and doing the work, even when no one’s looking.
Practice with Purpose
If you want to develop grit, practice with intention. It could be playing a musical instrument, learning a new language, or developing a skill, don’t just go through the motions. You have to make a conscious effort to know why you’re practicing and what you’re practicing for. Having that sense of purpose allows you to set short and long-term goals, or what experts refer to as ‘output measures.’ Studies show that people who write down their goals earn as much as nine times more over their lifetime than those who don’t. Isn’t that fascinating?
Now would be the perfect time to get a pen and paper and start writing down your weekly, monthly, and yearly output measures. Having something to work towards boosts your confidence, gives you purpose, and helps you develop grit. Measuring far you’ve come as well as how much work you need to put in to reach your next milestone. It’s a great way to appreciate the fact that life is all about progress, growth, and learning something new each day.
Celebrate Your Progress
Developing grit and perseverance in this day and age is hard. Truth be told, it’s hard at any age, but it’s incredibly daunting nowadays because we’re always connected 24/7. We have constant access to social media, news, and stories from around the globe as they unfold in real-time. We’ve also fallen into the habit of always comparing ourselves to other people based solely on their social media feeds. So, it’s easy to get sucked into the negativity and cynicism of it all. Yet, you have to adjust your inner dialogue. Remind yourself that developing grit is hard. So, take every opportunity to celebrate your milestones. When you acknowledge all the hard work you’re putting in, you’ll feel much better about yourself. Your self-esteem will get a nice boost, and you’ll realize that you’ve actually come a long way. Not only that, but you’ve grown as an individual and have developed valuable skills along the way.
Have Faith in Your Ability to Overcome Challenges
This is one of those things that come with time and practice. Think of your grit as a muscle. The more you train and develop it, the stronger it’ll become. Having faith that you have what it takes to overcome challenges and adversities makes you more confident. This mindset also allows you to become more resilient in the face of any setback. We realize that this is easier said than done. However, having a growth mindset and a healthy perspective on life will get you through the toughest of times. The important thing is to understand that hard times don’t last forever. You also have to know that it’s okay to fail as long as you get back up, dust yourself off, and get to work.
Related Info Products:
Amazing You – becoming the most incredible “you”
Goals on Track – Goal setting software for high achievers
Archetypes – learn your inner talents & weaknesses