The Obvious Secret to Building Grit
When I first dove into the research around building grit, I did so with reluctance. It all felt quite obvious - an idea in which I didn’t need any more understanding than I already had.
Because of that, a little part of me thought the time dedicated to learning about it might be better spent on another topic.
But I couldn’t have been more wrong.
You see, I was working with the incorrect assumption that grit was as simple as sticking with stuff even when it gets painful. And while this is partly true, it’s not the whole story.
According to Angela Duckworth, the author of the most famous book on the topic, grit actually has two key components.
The first is perseverance, which is essentially what I mentioned above: the ability to continue pursuing something despite hardship along the way.
The second, however, is something I hadn’t taken into account… passion.
Angela suggests that true grit is these two in combination - the ability to zero in on a meaningful pursuit, and stick with it through thick and thin.
And that framing seems to be much more optimistic and much less intimidating. It’s no longer about grinding away at some horrible chore. It’s staying loyal to something you care about.
It’s this idea that makes grit so important.
If you forget about building grit, you’ll find yourself quickly folding to any unpleasant situation that arises. They could be the one’s you’d expect - challenges or failure. But they could also be things that seem less nefarious, like boredom or just a shiny new object that draws your eye.
While most of us know that when we quit because of difficulty, it’s due to weakness, the same thing can’t be said for boredom. In fact, we often take boredom to mean that we’re currently doing the wrong thing and that we’d be justified in moving on to something else.
Unfortunately, this isn’t always true.
Any worthwhile endeavour will take time and the initial excitement can only take you so far. Just like relationships - eventually the honeymoon period will end and be replaced with something more comfortable but less exciting. But that’s not a reason to give up and move on.
This analogy is a perfect display of how grit plays into everything we do. If you lack it, you’ll experience:
More goals left incomplete
Fewer developed skills (and a smaller overall skillset… goodbye capability)
More failed relationships
And the shit that keeps you up at night… time passing by without you making any real progress
Just in case you need some cold, hard evidence, Angela has us covered there as well.
Through her research, she consistently found direct correlations between levels of grit and likelihood of success. This included success in school, career pursuits, and even in the military.
The verdict? If you want to become a badass, you need to invest time in building grit. And a great place to start is to figure out how much grit you currently possess.
In the studies mentioned above, Angela used a short questionnaire, known as the Grit Scale, to give people a grit score out of 5. The higher your number, the grittier you are.
Click here to complete the Grit Scale and get your score.
And keep in mind, it’s testing you for both of the metrics outlined above: your perseverance and your passion.
Once you’ve received your score, you know your starting point. Now it’s time to go through methods you can use to start pushing that number higher.
Building Grit - The 2 Key Methods
1. Do Hard Things
Practice makes perfect, right? The more you engage with activities that require dedication and struggle, the better you get at persisting and overcoming obstacles.
For maximum results, you want to be doing these hard things on a daily basis. Build them into your daily routine.
For example, my hard things are weight training and writing. Both require daily dedication (or 3-4 times per week at the minimum), and both can be grindy and unpleasant. Despite being a professional writer, there’s still few things more intimidating to me than a blank page at the start of a new project. Overcoming this on a regular basis hardens my mind and makes me a little better at handling that struggle.
And keep in mind, you aren’t limited to 1 hard thing. It’s a good place to start for anybody who’s been living a cushy life, but if you can find the time to have 2 or even 3 things that fit into this category, then that’s even better.
2. Hang Around Gritty People
Next, we have a simple one. And it connects directly to a famous saying that many of us will have heard before:
“You’re the average of the 5 people you spend the most time with.”
The research shows this to be true with grit as well. Spending time with gritty people and in gritty environments will rub off on you.
With that in mind, try and make one of your hard things something you can do in a community. If you love fitness, join a martial arts gym. If you love music, try to find people you can practice with.
The more you expose yourself to people that regularly pursue difficult things, the more you’ll find yourself wanting to do the same.
A gritty environment breeds gritty people. Take advantage of it.
So, where to now?
Simple. Make sure you’ve got some hard things in your life to dedicate yourself to, and an environment or a circle of people that continue to push you towards progress.
In the long run, this will have a profound effect on your grit levels.
If you already have hard things in your life, double down on them. Ensure you’re doing them daily or add an extra hard thing to your schedule to get even more benefit.
The more you struggle, the better off you'll be.
And for anyone who needs ideas on hard things to pursue, I’ve left a quick suggestion list below. Stay badass!
Hard Things - Suggestions
Weight lifting or calisthenics
Running
Martial arts
Music (singing, an instrument, etc.)
Learning another language
Writing
Learning to draw or paint
Learning to write code
Improv classes
Design skills (photoshop, web design, graphic design)
A hands-on skill (woodworking, sculpting, etc.)
Photography