What is Grit?

0:08 welcome as always it's good to see you 0:11 in this session you learn about a 0:14 characteristic associated with self 0:16 motivation and that's the power of grit 0:19 new cadets at the US Military Academy 0:22 West Point go through a staggeringly 0:25 tough physically and mentally 0:27 challenging program during their first 0:29 seven weeks this program is called the 0:32 beast it's well known that many new 0:35 cadets drop out of West Point before the 0:37 end of those harsh seven weeks for years 0:41 West Point was unable to pinpoint why 0:43 they found no patterns related to high 0:46 school ranked college entrance exam 0:48 grades for example s80 and a CT grades 0:52 physical fitness leadership potential 0:54 assessments or any other measure that 0:57 would seem to be relevant to whether a 0:59 cadet would go the distance or drop out 1:01 in 2004 a long came psychology doctoral 1:06 student Angela Duckworth she got 1:09 permission to give the cadets a 12 1:11 question assessment on their second day 1:13 at West Point she found that the higher 1:16 the cadet scored on the simple 1:18 assessment the more likely they were to 1:20 complete the beast as well the lower 1:23 they scored the more likely they were to 1:25 drop out the assessment was duckworth's 1:28 grit scale she defines grit is passion 1:32 and perseverance toward a long-term goal 1:35 the assessment questions included 1:38 statements such as I finish what I begin 1:40 I am diligent I never give up and I 1:45 often choose a goal and later on choose 1:47 to pursue a different one she also 1:50 explored whether teenagers who performed 1:53 best in the u.s. scripps national 1:55 spelling bee competition rated higher on 1:57 grit and they did not surprisingly 2:01 Duckworth found that the grittier 2:03 teenagers spent more time studying for 2:05 the spelling bee and this paid off in 2:07 their higher ranking in her research 2:11 Duckworth found that grit did not relate 2:13 positively to IQ but it was highly 2:16 correlated with conscientiousness as 2:19 with conscientious people 2:21 gritty people are hardworking 2:23 self-directed self-motivated persistent 2:26 and they're able to bounce back from 2:28 setbacks and get themselves back on 2:30 track but here's where grit differs from 2:33 conscientiousness gritty people apply 2:37 their focus to a single long-term goal 2:40 that's extremely meaningful to them for 2:43 example a person can be conscientious in 2:46 their everyday life and fulfill their 2:48 everyday work responsibilities to a very 2:50 high standard yet they may not be 2:52 focused on achieving a particular 2:54 long-term goal that's very important to 2:56 them gritty people stay focused on that 3:00 one important goal keeping their eyes on 3:03 the prize it's the driving force that 3:05 compels them to work even harder to be 3:08 even more persistent and to be even more 3:11 resilient rejection and being told they 3:15 can't do something fuels their 3:17 determination Steven Spielberg was 3:20 rejected from film school three times 3:23 Oprah was told she was unfit for TV and 3:27 Beyonce was told she couldn't sing bean 3:30 gritty takes even more stamina for 3:33 longer periods of time all in the dogged 3:36 persistence of achieving a single 3:38 long-term goal grit is like 3:41 conscientiousness on steroids actor Will 3:44 Smith describes a secret to a success as 3:47 an actor this way the only thing that I 3:49 see that is distinctly different about 3:51 me is that I'm not afraid to die on a 3:54 treadmill you might have more talent 3:56 than me you might be smarter than me you 3:59 might be sexier than me you might be all 4:02 of those things but if we get on the 4:04 treadmill together there's two things 4:06 you're getting off first or I'm going to 4:09 die it's really that simple US Supreme 4:13 Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor 4:15 demonstrated grittiness ever since she 4:18 was a child born in the Bronx New York 4:20 to a family that emigrated from Puerto 4:22 Rico she was raised for many years by a 4:25 single mother after her father died of 4:27 complications related to alcoholism when 4:30 she was only nine years old her mother 4:32 was an orphan and her father never 4:34 completed the third grade 4:35 her mother worked hard to save money to 4:38 send soda Meyer to Catholic school soda 4:41 Meyer learned responsibility at age 4:43 seven when she was diagnosed with type-1 4:45 juvenile diabetes and had to give 4:48 herself daily insulin shots for the rest 4:50 of her life in her autobiography she 4:53 said I probably learned more 4:54 self-discipline from living with 4:56 diabetes than I ever did from the 4:58 Sisters of Charity she decided that she 5:01 wanted to become an attorney after 5:03 watching the TV show Perry Mason in 5:05 which actor Raymond Burr played a 5:07 prosecutor with a flair for public 5:08 speaking and for winning cases she was 5:12 fascinated with the way Mason eloquently 5:14 presented his cases and served the law 5:17 so de Meyer did not have the resources 5:19 at home to help her pursue her dream of 5:21 becoming an attorney but she had the 5:24 grit to figure it out inspired by the 5:27 fictional Perry Mason she practiced 5:29 public speaking whenever she could when 5:32 she was ready to become the first person 5:33 in her family to attend college her 5:36 friend Kenny from her high school debate 5:37 team encouraged her to get admitted to 5:40 an Ivy League college he gave her the 5:43 names of colleges and then he helped her 5:45 adjust to life at Princeton and then 5:47 Yale Law School she relied heavily on 5:50 students with more experience to help 5:52 her develop the confidence and political 5:54 skills to not only survive but thrive 5:57 today soda Meyer is quick to advise 6:00 people to remember that no one succeeds 6:02 alone she expresses pride that she was 6:06 one of the early beneficiaries of 6:08 affirmative action and she worked hard 6:10 to live up to expectations she was 6:13 awarded the pine prize the highest 6:15 academic award given to Princeton 6:17 undergraduates and she was an editor for 6:19 the prestigious yale law journal she 6:22 bounced back after not being offered a 6:24 job after school summer internship with 6:26 a prestigious law firm reflecting on 6:29 that early failure soda Meyer said I 6:31 would do what I had always done break 6:35 the challenge down into smaller 6:36 challenges which I would get on with in 6:39 my methodical fashion now Duckworth 6:42 notes that grit is like living life as a 6:45 marathon not as a sprint and she 6:49 is convinced that grit can be learned 6:51 she works with school systems to help 6:53 them develop grit and children so that 6:55 they can have better opportunities for a 6:58 good life today Duckworth likes to show 7:01 her doctoral students the letters that 7:03 she receives from academic journals 7:05 rejecting her articles because she wants 7:07 to build a resilience by showing them 7:09 that struggles and failures are a normal 7:12 if not desirable part of an academics 7:15 life what can you do to increase your 7:18 grit like a muscle grid can be developed 7:21 through focused practice Angela 7:25 Duckworth describes self-made 7:27 businessman Warren Buffett's strategy 7:29 for identifying your most important goal 7:31 the one that most deserves grit first 7:36 list up to 25 goals second circle the 7:40 five that are the highest priority those 7:42 that are most aligned with what's most 7:44 important to you in life third look at 7:48 the goals that you did in circle and 7:49 don't pay much time and energy toward 7:51 those goals because they'll distract you 7:53 from your top goals Buffett says it more 7:57 starkly avoid the goals on the second 7:59 list at all costs deciding what you're 8:02 not going to do is as important as 8:05 deciding what you will do then make a 8:08 plan for achieving your top five or 8:10 fewer goals then Duckworth adds another 8:14 step she recommends that you ask 8:16 yourself to what extent to my top five 8:20 goals serve a common purpose by aligning 8:23 your goals the effort you put into one 8:25 of your top goals is likely to benefit 8:27 your other goals as well Warren Buffett 8:31 is known to be clear about his 8:33 priorities despite his wealth he's worth 8:36 over 60 billion buffett lives frugally 8:39 in the house he bought in 1958 for 8:42 thirty-one thousand dollars which today 8:44 would be around 260 thousand dollars he 8:48 has pledged to donate 99% of his wealth 8:50 to charitable causes when he dies with 8:53 most of it going to the Bill and Melinda 8:54 Gates Foundation which is dedicated to 8:57 lifting people out of poverty to lead 8:59 healthy productive lives 9:02 before we end this session it's worth 9:04 noting that being overly gritty carry 9:07 some risks sometimes it's healthier to 9:11 quit particularly when the goal is 9:13 unachievable or if the situation has 9:15 changed to one in which the goal is no 9:17 longer worth the effort required 9:20 researchers have found that people are 9:22 able to let go of goals that are for 9:25 some reason unattainable head lower 9:27 c-reactive protein and that's a molecule 9:30 that's associated with health issues 9:32 related to inflammation then people who 9:35 continue to pursue an unattainable goal 9:38 in another study researchers found that 9:42 people who are able to detach from 9:43 unattainable goals and invest in new 9:46 attainable goals reported higher 9:49 subjective well-being otherwise known as 9:51 happiness lower stress and higher self 9:55 mastery which the researchers defined as 9:57 a belief that one has control over what 10:00 happens in their future another risk of 10:04 excess grit as you that you can become 10:06 so invested in achieving your goal that 10:09 you lose interest in other important 10:11 parts of your life for example your 10:13 health and relationships as research or 10:16 Walter Mischel the creator of the 10:18 original marshmallow experience says a 10:20 life with too much self-control and 10:23 delayed gratification can be as 10:25 unfulfilled as one with too little so 10:29 now you know how great can help you 10:30 achieve your goals what steps you can 10:32 take to increase your own grit and what 10:34 risks are associated with grit and I 10:37 must say that you've shown quite a bit 10:39 of grit by staying with this course so 10:41 far because it can be easy to get 10:43 sidetracked with everyday distractions 10:45 so it looks like you already have some 10:47 of the grit it takes to succeed thanks 10:50 for taking the time to learn about the 10:52 power of grit and I hope you found this 10:54 session to be useful and enjoyable