Got Grit?
- c.u.
My own studies of masters runners have found that while injuries – a strained hamstring or Achilles tendon, stress fracture, etc.– present obstacles to running success, greater potential obstacles are overcoming challenges in “the rest of life” – the unexpected family, housing, or work crisis that disrupts training.
While one solution to those “other” obstacles is to micromanage –to plan goals for one day at a time – another is to develop grit not just in running but in all areas of life. Defined in a recent New York Times best-selling book (Grit, 2016) by University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychologist Dr. Angela Duckworth, grit is a combination of passion and perseverance.
According to Duckworth, grit counts more towards excellence than talent, which does factor into achievement. In her book, Duckworth presents a two-part formula for achievement for which effort “counts twice”. The first formula is “talent X effort = skill”. The second part is “skill X effort = achievement”. “Talent – how fast we improve in skills – absolutely matters. But effort factors into the calculations twice, not once.” Later she writes that “Without effort, your talent is nothing more than your unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you could have done but didn’t.” Duckworth asserts that with effort talent becomes skill and also effort makes skill more productive.
Duckworth adds that it is more about stamina – “consistency over time” than intensity.
Duckworth’s findings on grit have found that it predicts success more than measures of specific talents. She gives the example of grit and the West Point Military Academy. West Point is highly selective. About 1,200 are admitted from an initial applicant pool of about 14,000. Selection requirements include top SAT or ACT scores and high school grades and also exceptional physical fitness. That means top results on tests for running, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull ups. Most of the men and women who attend West Point were varsity high school team captains.
Despite being very selective, West Point had a problem for which, in 2008, it engaged the help of Dr. Duckworth and the concept of grit. Freshmen recruits begin each year with an intensive seven-week summer training program (“Beast Barracks”). A typical day involves waking up at 5 a.m., physical training from 5:30 to 6:55 a.m., organized athletics from 4 to 5:30, six hours of training/classes, and more. The problem? About one in 20 cadets dropped out. The extensive physical fitness and intelligence tests that the cadets had taken was not effective in predicting who would drop out/survive. West Point wanted Duckworth’s help.
In 2008, Duckworth administered her 12-question grit questionnaire to all 1,223 cadets. It turned out to be a better predictor of those who would survive the “Barracks” than West Point’s elaborate Whole Candidate Score which was based on specific measure of survival such as SAT scores, physical fitness, or high school class rank.
Grit test questions are surprisingly general, applicable and relevant to all areas of life (see below). If responses to these general questions predicted cadets ability to persevere through academic and athletic challenges, perhaps your responses can help you reflect on and perhaps improve your responses to the other inevitable challenges in life. Overall grit – grit in your professional and personal life – matters just as much as grit on the track.
How do you develop grit? If you want to get better, Duckworth says, focus on deliberate practice: specific practice focused onyour weaknesses not your strengths which is not necessarily fun; practice about which you receive feedback from a coach or teacher; and practice aimed at a specific and intentional goal. Duckworth also reminds people are better able to develop grit if they recognize that failure is part of the learning process.
Here’s Duckworth’s grit test (“Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007).
1. I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.
2. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.
3. My interests change from year to year.
4. Setbacks don’t discourage me.
5. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.
6. I am a hard worker.
7. I often set a goal but later decide to pursue a different one.
8. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.
9. I finish whatever I begin.
10. I have achieved a goal that took years of work.
11. I become interested in new pursuits every few months.
12. I am diligent.
Scoring:
1. For questions 1, 4, 6, 9, 10 and 12 assign the following points: 5 = Very much like me 4 = Mostly like me 3 = Somewhat like me 2 = Not much like me 1 = Not like me at all
2. For questions 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 11 assign the following points: 1 = Very much like me 2 = Mostly like me 3 = Somewhat like me 4 = Not much like me 5 = Not like me at all
Add up all the points and divide by 12. The maximum score on this scale is 5 (extremely gritty), and the lowest scale on this scale is 1 (not at all gritty).
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- c.u.
My own studies of masters runners have found that while injuries – a strained hamstring or Achilles tendon, stress fracture, etc.– present obstacles to running success, greater potential obstacles are overcoming challenges in “the rest of life” – the unexpected family, housing, or work crisis that disrupts training.
While one solution to those “other” obstacles is to micromanage –to plan goals for one day at a time – another is to develop grit not just in running but in all areas of life. Defined in a recent New York Times best-selling book (Grit, 2016) by University of Pennsylvania Positive Psychologist Dr. Angela Duckworth, grit is a combination of passion and perseverance.
According to Duckworth, grit counts more towards excellence than talent, which does factor into achievement. In her book, Duckworth presents a two-part formula for achievement for which effort “counts twice”. The first formula is “talent X effort = skill”. The second part is “skill X effort = achievement”. “Talent – how fast we improve in skills – absolutely matters. But effort factors into the calculations twice, not once.” Later she writes that “Without effort, your talent is nothing more than your unmet potential. Without effort, your skill is nothing more than what you could have done but didn’t.” Duckworth asserts that with effort talent becomes skill and also effort makes skill more productive.
Duckworth adds that it is more about stamina – “consistency over time” than intensity.
Duckworth’s findings on grit have found that it predicts success more than measures of specific talents. She gives the example of grit and the West Point Military Academy. West Point is highly selective. About 1,200 are admitted from an initial applicant pool of about 14,000. Selection requirements include top SAT or ACT scores and high school grades and also exceptional physical fitness. That means top results on tests for running, push-ups, sit-ups, and pull ups. Most of the men and women who attend West Point were varsity high school team captains.
Despite being very selective, West Point had a problem for which, in 2008, it engaged the help of Dr. Duckworth and the concept of grit. Freshmen recruits begin each year with an intensive seven-week summer training program (“Beast Barracks”). A typical day involves waking up at 5 a.m., physical training from 5:30 to 6:55 a.m., organized athletics from 4 to 5:30, six hours of training/classes, and more. The problem? About one in 20 cadets dropped out. The extensive physical fitness and intelligence tests that the cadets had taken was not effective in predicting who would drop out/survive. West Point wanted Duckworth’s help.
In 2008, Duckworth administered her 12-question grit questionnaire to all 1,223 cadets. It turned out to be a better predictor of those who would survive the “Barracks” than West Point’s elaborate Whole Candidate Score which was based on specific measure of survival such as SAT scores, physical fitness, or high school class rank.
Grit test questions are surprisingly general, applicable and relevant to all areas of life (see below). If responses to these general questions predicted cadets ability to persevere through academic and athletic challenges, perhaps your responses can help you reflect on and perhaps improve your responses to the other inevitable challenges in life. Overall grit – grit in your professional and personal life – matters just as much as grit on the track.
How do you develop grit? If you want to get better, Duckworth says, focus on deliberate practice: specific practice focused onyour weaknesses not your strengths which is not necessarily fun; practice about which you receive feedback from a coach or teacher; and practice aimed at a specific and intentional goal. Duckworth also reminds people are better able to develop grit if they recognize that failure is part of the learning process.
Here’s Duckworth’s grit test (“Grit: Perseverance and passion for long-term goals”. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 2007).
1. I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge.
2. New ideas and projects sometimes distract me from previous ones.
3. My interests change from year to year.
4. Setbacks don’t discourage me.
5. I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.
6. I am a hard worker.
7. I often set a goal but later decide to pursue a different one.
8. I have difficulty maintaining my focus on projects that take more than a few months to complete.
9. I finish whatever I begin.
10. I have achieved a goal that took years of work.
11. I become interested in new pursuits every few months.
12. I am diligent.
Scoring:
1. For questions 1, 4, 6, 9, 10 and 12 assign the following points: 5 = Very much like me 4 = Mostly like me 3 = Somewhat like me 2 = Not much like me 1 = Not like me at all
2. For questions 2, 3, 5, 7, 8 and 11 assign the following points: 1 = Very much like me 2 = Mostly like me 3 = Somewhat like me 4 = Not much like me 5 = Not like me at all
Add up all the points and divide by 12. The maximum score on this scale is 5 (extremely gritty), and the lowest scale on this scale is 1 (not at all gritty).
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