To close out our focus this month on resilience, we want to share a video clip from a Ted Talk by Angela Duckworth, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania and founder and CEO of Character Lab. While this Ted Talk is from 2013, the information that Dr. Duckworth shares is still relevant today.
Dr. Duckworth and her team studied diverse groups of individuals and found that one characteristic emerged as a significant predictor of success — GRIT. She defines grit as “passion and perseverance for long-term goals.” Grit is having stamina and sticking to something, even when it is hard. Grit is living life like it is a marathon, not a sprint.
So…how do you cultivate grit? Dr. Duckworth suggests one way is to adopt a growth mindset, a concept that Carol Dweck, Ph.D. at Stanford developed and studied extensively over the past decade. When we operate from a growth mindset, we believe that our ability to learn and get better is based on putting forth consistent effort, trying–failing–learning, and asking for help by accessing the correct resources.
So as you look to 2021 and the challenges before you, we encourage you to approach them with a growth mindset and grit, a belief that you can succeed by persisting and learning as you go.
We are big proponents of having a growth mindset, so much so, that we incorporated the concept into our Transforming Success® curriculum. To learn more about Transforming Success® and our open-enrollment cohort that begins in January, click here.
