Grit – A Significant Predictor of Success
Abraham Lincoln’s first campaign for public office was in 1832. He ran for the Illinois General Assembly and lost. He later lost a race for the House of Representatives and a couple of races for the Senate. The love of his life died in 1835. He suffered a nervous breakdown in 1836. He campaigned for a vice-presidential nomination and lost. He persevered and, after an ugly battle for the presidential nomination, on March 4, 1861 he was inaugurated as president.
Lincoln had grit.
In a blog post back in January 2013 Ron Murzda, of Storks N More in Burlington Township, NJ, shared his best advice for new partners who are just starting their stork rental businesses. He stated, “It will grow. It just takes time. If it gets slow, DON’T GIVE UP! Use that time to get the word out about your services.”
Ron Murzda has grit.
What is grit? In an American Public Media story, Angela Duckworth defines grit as, “motivation, perseverance, and stamina. It’s sticking with things over the very long term until you master them.” It is about working hard and not giving up, even when faced with adversity or painfully slow periods in your business. It is about pushing past discouragement and knowing that success is only achieved because of long hours, sweat, and tears.
Dr. Duckworth believes grit is the one factor most significantly correlated with success in life. Here’s what she says about talent and grit (they aren’t necessarily related):
“Talent does not make you gritty. Many talented individuals don’t follow through. Grit is unrelated or even inversely related to talent.”
This is the greatest thing! To realize that through steadfast effort and determination we can achieve our goals. Talent aside, it’s about rolling up our sleeves and investing our hard work and mind power. Angela Duckworth also discussed when you have a growth mindest (the belief that ability to learn is not fixed but can change with effort) we are more likely to persevere and achieve our goals.
No matter where we are in our businesses this should be very encouraging to all of us. At this very time there are those of us just beginning a stork rental business, there are those who have been at it for several years or a decade or more, there are those of us who are currently experiencing major growth and those of us experiencing an aggravatingly slow period. No matter where we find ourselves, if we have grit and a growth mindset we are more likely to persevere because we don’t believe adversity in business or in life is a permanent condition.
This is so inspiring to me because goals take time to achieve and the journey is fraught with ups and downs. And sometimes the downs can seriously impact our motivation. But if we persevere through those rough times and stick with our goal(s), day in and day out, results will follow.
