Dropping out of University could have taken the path for my life downhill. I still remember the feeling of failure, the feeling of shame that I had let those I loved down, and the feeling that there would be no coming back from this. It felt as if everything I had been working towards suddenly seemed pointless.

I managed to pull myself up from quite a low place and go back to University a year later, however, in my second year I felt that I was perhaps studying the wrong subject. I recognised at that point success for me would be to consider the year and a half I had left as a relatively small amount of time in the scale of things and that I was only one and a half years away from getting a degree. At the time I studied, unemployment was high and I felt that having an engineering degree would see me more likely to get a job. As such, it was probably better to show I had sticking power, or GRIT,  than to quit a second time. Easy it was not. A life lesson? Definitely.

What exactly is GRIT?

GRIT, is described well by Angela Lee Duckworth in her short TED talk from April 2013. In it she defines grit as having passion and perseverance for very long-term goals, having stamina so that you can live life as though it were a marathon and not a sprint. Her research showed that, rather than IQ, physical health, social intelligence or good looks, it is grit that predicts success in the longer term.

Most work to date exploring this question has focused on school pupils. The Character Lab has found that grit is a complex characteristic which is related to other skills and mindsets such as optimism, purpose, growth mindset, bravery and self-control. Importantly, having grit does not mean never quitting but instead quitting responsibly (not just because it is tough going) and sticking to those things for which you have a passion and are truly dedicated.

Alex Zanardi is a great example of someone with grit. Zanardi, a motor sports professional, suffered a horrendous crash and lost both legs in the 2001 Indy car race in Germany. Not only did Zanardi return to racing but he took up competition in handcycling, a form of paralympic cycling, winning gold medals at the London Paralympics in 2012 and at the 2016 Paralympics in Rio de Janeiro. The following quote from Alex provides an example of how he puts grit into practice: “When you feel you’ve given it all, and you’re prepared to say, ‘That’s it, I’m done,’ if you close your eyes and give it five more seconds, well, it may happen that when you open your eyes, the others have given up”. He continues: “When you understand this, you begin searching for those five seconds everywhere. There’s always something more, some hidden energy inside your body that, if you are curious enough, you can find.”

Developing your own grit

So what would I suggest you do to further develop your own grit?

1. Develop your SELF-CONTROL which supports the ability to show grit. If wanting to improve self-control strategies, focus on external influences rather than internal will power. Impulses tend to grow stronger over time so nipping a tempting impulse that could distract you from your goal in the bud through an external change helps. For example, if you are training to run a half marathon and you have an 8 mile run planned, don’t make it one that means you pass your house after 4 miles if you can make it a circular route. Changing the route (external) can mean you are more likely to meet your goal (you have to get back home) as opposed to letting weak willpower let you duck out at 4 miles.
2. Build your OPTIMISM. If you have a habit of negative self-talk then focus on building your optimism. Firstly spend a few days catching your negative self-talk with ABC (Notice an Adversity, Capture the consequences – what you did or felt, then consider the Belief you must have held for that consequence). When you get practiced at noticing, start to Dispute your negative belief by looking for contributing causes (focus on the changeable, specific and non personal) and then notice the Energy you feel as you succeed in dealing with the negative belief.
3. Nurture a GROWTH MINDSET. Start by ensuring you recognise that intelligence is not fixed. We continue to learn through life and failure is an opportunity for learning. Then ensure that when you try at something, pat yourself on the back for the effort you put in (people praised for their effort are more interested in challenging themselves and perform better in future in overcoming problems than those praised for intelligence). Thirdly, celebrate your mistakes – our brains develop when we make a mistake and think about it. Accept challenges where you might struggle and make a mistake – know that if you are struggling you are learning!
4. Celebrate GRIT! When you have stuck at something, persevering to achieve a challenge, take time to celebrate what you have completed before moving on to the next thing. The more you value grit, the more likely you are to persevere again in future.

Getting a degree set me off on my career – but a bigger benefit by far was the experience of dropping out and then going back to University, overcoming an emotionally difficult time and the empathy it helped me to develop for others who are going through difficult times and can see no way forward. In addition, it helped me to see that I can succeed despite an apparent failure.

If you are a parent, these suggestions are equally valid for your children. If you are a line manager, consider how you can adopt some of the suggestion above in the way that you interact with your team members.

Finally, I encourage you to keep the concept of grit front of mind whenever you are taking on a challenge. Never was there a better time to adopt a 4 letter word as part of your everyday vocabulary.