Grit Or The Power Of Passion And Perseverance

The word Grit is a concept proposed by Dr. Angela Duckworth, a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania. He gained popularity following the publication of his book Grit: the power of passion and perseverance . He then gave a conference on the subject that reached more than 10 million visits.

The title of the book describes very well what the Grit is: the power of passion and perseverance. It refers to long-term goals and how tenacity , determination and perseverance influence their achievement. At bottom there is little news, the Duckworth revolution is his perspective.

This psychologist is convinced that achieving great achievements is a matter  of persistence. A will that is born precisely from the power of passion and perseverance to face adversity and persist. Duckworth offers a scale to measure how these aspects are doing in each person’s life.

The power of passion and perseverance

Duckworth’s approaches are based on the idea that Grit is one of the predictors of success  in any field. This means that those with high Grit are more likely to achieve their intended goals.

On the other hand, the idea is raised that everyone has the ability and the possibility to increase their Grit. Likewise, it is pointed out that those who have a high Grit present two basic characteristics: they know very well what they want and are capable of making a strong bet to achieve it.

Now, it is convenient to define in a more precise way what that power of passion and perseverance consists of. For Duckworth, passion is not that overwhelming intensity that completely takes over the will, but a motivation  that remains constant over time.

On the other hand, perseverance is tenacity in the effort. That is, the strength to commit to something and not abandon it until it is finished. It assumes a high tolerance for failure and frustration, as well as the ability to get up after falling. Also the ability not to lose confidence in what is done.

The talent and effort

Two variables influence the power of passion and perseverance: talent and effort. Talent has traditionally been understood as the ability or natural disposition to do something. It shows because those with talent are capable of making the difficult seem very easy. However, little talent is worth effortlessly.

At the same time, and unfortunately, sometimes a lot of effort is not enough to do something worthwhile. Hence Duckworth defines this equation as follows: talent is how quickly skills improve, if effort is made.

If you have to choose one of the two factors, the effort wins. There are many cases of great men and women who have achieved the impossible thanks to the power of passion and perseverance. Likewise, we all know people with great talents who, however, do not go as far as they should.

The Grit test

Angela Duckworth proposes a scale to measure that power of passion and perseverance, or Grit. This contains 10 items to do a self-evaluation and in each one the following options appear:

1. He looks nothing like me.
2. It doesn’t look too much like me.
3. It looks a bit like me.
4. He looks a lot like me.
5. It looks a lot like me.

In each of the statements, the previous options have a certain score. Such statements and their corresponding scores are as follows:

1. New ideas and projects distract me from those already underway.

to 5; b) 4; c) 3; d) 2; e) 1.

1. Difficulties do not take away my motivation, because I do not give up easily.

a) 1; b) 2; c) 3; d) 4; e) 5.

1. I set goals for myself, but often before I achieve them I set a different goal for myself.

to 5; b) 4; c) 3; d) 2; e) 1.

1. I am a very hard-working person.

a) 1; b) 2; c) 3; d) 4; e) 5.

1. It’s hard for me to go ahead with a project that takes several months to complete.

to 5; b) 4; c) 3; d) 2; e) 1.

1. I finish everything I start.

a) 1; b) 2; c) 3; d) 4; e) 5.

1. My interests tend to change from one year to the next.

to 5; b) 4; c) 3; d) 2; e) 1.

1. I am diligent, I do not spare efforts.

a) 1; b) 2; c) 3; d) 4; e) 5.

1. In the past, I have been obsessed with a project, but then it has ceased to interest me.

to 5; b) 4; c) 3; d) 2; e) 1.

1. I have been able to overcome obstacles to reach an important goal.

a) 1; b) 2; c) 3; d) 4; e) 5.

At the end the scores are added and the result is divided by 10. This figure is the individual Grit. The higher the number, the more developed is that power of passion and perseverance and vice versa.