Resilience and Grit, the ability to bounce back from adversity and the capacity to consistently drive yourself towards your goals are two common traits of highly successful people.

Resilience & Grit

Grit has become a buzz word in 2017 largely due to a TED talk on grit with a researcher named Angela Duckworth going viral, with over 8 million views. According to Duckworth, grit is ‘perseverance and passion for long term goals’

The focus of Duckworth’s research was to establish why some people with the same gifts, intellect, education and opportunities will succeed where others fails. During this process she found that at the heart of ‘grit’ is your ability to consistently drive yourself, stay inspired, passionate and determined.

Though resilience and grit are similar qualities there is a subtle difference between these powerful traits. Resilience is your ability to pick yourself up when you’ve fallen down and to turn your failures into lessons and keep on moving. Grit is the tenacity, passion and driving force that will sustain you over a long period of time.

When you combine these two incredible characteristics, magic can happen! So here are some ways you can cultivate grit and resilience in yourself and in others.

1. Watch your language

The language you choose when acknowledging the achievements of others can have effect on Grit and Resilience. When you praise someone for a trait or strength such as “you are so smart” or “you are so strong” you are encouraging a fixed mindset. This is why some people struggle when they encounter challenges, because if their current skillset doesn’t support them to complete the task, they give up. When you praise and celebrate people for the amount of effort they put in to a task you are encouraging grit and resilience rather than having them rely on skill alone.

2. Practice Open-mindedness

Becoming more open minded is a huge step for building resilience and grit, this is purely because people with a positive outlook and open mind, don’t see problems, they see opportunities! When you approach hurdles with a can do attitude and think outside the square you feel more confident in your own abilities and this self- confidence creates more resilience.

3. Choose Your Friends Wisely

People have a huge impact on your life. As Jim Rohn says, “You are the average of the five people you spend the most time with.” With this in mind, you should think about the people you’re spending time with the same way you think about what you eat and how you’re exercising, some people are healthier for you than others and some people are better in moderation. So surround yourself with people that will inspire you to be a better person, provide you with motivation to achieve your goals, empower you to make the changes you need to succeed and cheer on your success.

4. Reflect on your day

Whether your daily reflection comes in the form of journaling, meditation or sharing your day with your loved ones over family dinner, it brings awareness to your achievements. The beauty about reflection or hindsight is it also gives you the ability to assess whether your current strategies are working for you and make any alterations to your plan for the next day, week or month to ensure greater success.

5. Set goals that align with your values

Having disparity or conflict, between your goals can create emotional distress. This distress happens when the pursuit of one goal hinders you from achieving your other goals. Having conflicting goals generally comes when you set goals that aren’t for YOU, seeking social expectance or trying to do the ‘right thing’ rather than setting goals that are in total alignment with your ultimate purpose. The closer you can get to living in alignment with your vision and highest values, the easier it is to develop grit and resilience.

CLICK HERE FOR TED TALK ON GRIT – WE WOULD LOVE TO HEAR WHAT YOU THINK?