“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realise how close they were to success when they gave up” – Thomas A. Edison
That is so true. And the funny part is that those who gave up mostly didn’t even realise how close they were to achieving their goals.
When it comes to Life Goals, the achievement is directly proportional to consistency of effort and persistence. The progress needs to be steady over time….no matter how long it takes to achieve the all-important Life Goals.
It is clear from research that “Grit” and the “Growth Mindset” are two of the most impactful drivers for achieving goals in challenging and personally meaningful contexts.
So what is Grit?
Cambridge dictionary defines Grit as – courage and determination despite difficulty.
American psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth says, Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals.
In other words, Grit ensures that we don’t give up, stay focused and maintain the momentum.
Understanding the Growth Mindset:
“In a Growth Mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work—brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishment.” (Dweck, 2015)
Growth mindset is a driver of love for learning and continuous improvement. Making us more resilient and keeping us inspired throughout the way.
It’s easy for you to leverage Grit and Growth Mindset to achieve your meaningful Goals.
Bring the two together. The awesome news is that by practicing Growth Mindset, we can strengthen our Grit and we can keep on track to achieve our (generally long term) Life Goals.
A few things you can do to apply the Growth Mindset and get Grittier:
- Periodically remind yourself of the important “WHY” of your goal. (read related article)
- When it seems that the progress is stalling or going too slow – Ask yourself if something else can be done. What haven’t you tried? What else can you influence?
- Celebrate achievement of smaller milestones. It reinforces the progress and keeps the motivation up.
- Don’t wait too long to retry when you feel you fail in an attempt. Just remind yourself quickly about what you have learnt from this failed attempt and apply the learning in the next attempt …quickly.
- Keep a learning journal. List your learnings along the way. Periodically review this journal. You will be surprised to see how much you have learnt and progressed.
- Very important…. remember that you are human, you don’t know everything (else you would be God). And it’s okay to seek support and ask for help to get more learning and inspiration. Ensure you have assured access to a coach and/or a mentor.
In many years of Coaching and Mentoring, I have realised that most people focus on applying the Growth Mindset and hope that they achieve their goals soon, but it is equally important to reflect on your Grit from time to time. After all, the fuel in the tank alone will not move the car forward, you will need to press the accelerator as well.
Connect with me if you would like to have a no obligation chat about your progress and drive towards your Life Goals.
Reference and suggested reading:
- Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – Carol Dweck
- Grit – Angela Lee Duckworth