Grit and resilience Leading to Growth Mindset !

Table of contents 

• What is grit?
• How to develop grit?
• Is it really helpful in improving your confidence?
• Tips and tricks to develop grit and resilience 

In the book " The power of passion and perseverance", Angela Lee Duckworth explains grit as applying focused attention, resilience, perseverance and dedication to achieveing specific long term goals.

She further states that " the single trait in our complex and wavering nature which accounts for success" is grit. According to her grit is capable of beating even natural talent and intelligence.

What is grit?

Researchers suggests that grit is a quality that is seen in every successful person. Be it an athlete or a famous scientist or a business person like Elon Musk.

The ability to continue doing a goal despite several distractions and hurdles is called as grit. The capacity to eliminate or postpone any temptations (distractions) in order to fulfill a particular goal is known as grit.

Is grit different from resilience?

Most of us confuses grit with resilience. But the two are different concepts. While grit means perseverance for a longer period of time for any particular goal, resilience means the ability to recover from a setback. Not giving up to challenges and difficulties. 

Grit is a mindset. Not giving up is a mindset. In order to achieve any long term goals grit becomes an important factor. People who have more grit and who are more resilient accepts obstructions and challenges. This attitude helps them grow stronger. 

What grit looks like?

It is common to see the given below characteristics in people who possess grit.

• Perseverance: the most obvious behaviour to be found in gritty people is perseverance ( the attitude of not giving up). Such people do not gives in to temptations and are good with eliminating distractions. They have positive outlook towards challenges. Those who lacks perseverance they are likely to give up easily. It becomes difficult for them to face challenges.
• Resilience: resilience is the ability recover from a setback. The sooner you recover the stronger you grow. If you fall and do not stand again you lack resilience. True grit is always backed by resilience.
• Commitments: this characteristics is equally important to have. This means you are serious about the deadlines. Those who lacks commitments lacks a sense of responsibility. This is symbolic of poor mindset.

How to develop grit?

There are several things one can do to develop grit. All it takes is the will to practice more and more.

• Practice: like any other skill this can also be developed with practice. Consciously try to put yourself a situation that you would otherwise would love to avoid. Like any other activity (playing piano, dancing, coocking) we get better with practice similarly we would get better with grit.
• Start small: do not burnout yourself byy doing a lot of things you dislike in one go. Instead, start with one activity at a time. Gradually increase. 
• Spend time with people with gritty attitude: this helps a lot. Our environment has a lot of influence on us. Surrounding yourself with people with gritty attitude will naturally make you more gritty.
• Reward yourself: whenever you find yourself doing something that helps you boost your grit acknowledge it and reward yourself. You can eat a chocolate or watch a movie. 

Is state of flow different from grit?

With grit you can get to the top but how long you can stay there is something that remains unanswered. State of flow helps in maintaining the peak of the performance. Research suggests that state of flow is becoming one with what you do. Only then unimaginable creativity comes into existence.

This is the digital era we are living in where everything is just a click away from us. So it is we have a habit of relishing instant gratification. All of us looks for quick results. In such scenarios perseverance and resilience can be challenging, even frustrating. However, determination, direction and practice will help you become a "gritty" person who will relish the victory of overall success. 

Read more: Benefits of journaling

Frequently asked questions 

Q.1. How are grit and resilience related?

Grit and resilience are often taken as the same thing while there exist a fine difference between the two. Resilience is the capacity to carryout doing a work even after being faced with several challenges. The ability to win over setbacks is resilience. Whereas grit is perseverance. 

Q.2. How to raise kids with grit?

You become a model for them. Try to praise their efforts and not their success after completing a task. Most importantly teach them to learn from mistakes and handle failures. 

Q.3. What is an example of a grit mindset?

People who are in sports can be very frequently spotted with gritty attitude. They donot see failures as setbacks instead they see it as an opportunity to become even better. They have a growth mindset. While people with fixed mindset surrenders to the hands of pressure and challenges. 

Read more: How to avoid Procrastination - what are the 5 ways to avoid Procrastination