In a recent TED Talk, an educator and psychologist said that the single most important human quality in achieving personal success is grit. Through her research she discovered that grit outweighs social intelligence and academic achievement when it comes to realizing their goals, achieving what they set out to do and overall success. Grit is the ability to stick to it, to keep going when you want to give up, to persevere until you reach the end. When the researcher was asked how to develop grit in oneself her answer was, “I don’t know”.
Through my research, training and experience as a processor I have seen and know for myself that grit has to do with the amount of emotional charge a person has or doesn’t have. In other words, it is the amount of available, free attention and mental energy a person has. When a person falls into apathy they lose sight of their goals, they drift off of what they wanted and eventually get so far from their original want and dream that it becomes something remote and unrelated to them. This isn’t to say that people with grit don’t have any emotional charge. But they are able to push it aside. They are choosing to stay the course in spite of the downturn of events. We all react differently to charge. The less charge a person has the more able they are to find out what they really want in life and then make it happen. There’s no right or wrong about this, one way is not better than the other. It’s all about what’s makes you tick and putting your heart and soul into your work and play.
If you are following the program but you’re not feeling it, you’re grittiness is depleted. Someone who goes into a profession because that was the best option but not really what they wanted will have less joy and passion in their work than someone who defied the consequences and followed their goals and dreams. In the TED talk the presenter found that the teens and young adults with grit were highly focused. When you know what you want and you go after it you’re happy. The grittier the happier. So the million dollar question is how to get more of it. When you’re doing something for more than just the moment and more than just yourself, when you’re doing for others and for the long haul you’re playing a big game in life. That big game will transcend the day to day ups and downs; the game will give meaning to the routine and your focus will be expanded and your mood will be high. When you have passion for a cause it may take a lifetime to fulfill but that’s not going to stop you. Your grit, love and integrity will see you through.