Achieving our best selves takes grit and determination

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merican author and motivational speaker Albert E. N. Gray said, “All successful people have the habit of doing the things failures don’t like to do. They don’t like doing them either necessarily. But their disliking is subordinate to the strength of their purpose.”

In other words, the difference between people who achieve what they set out to do is not determined by ability, intelligence, or where one comes from, who one knows or where one went to school. The difference is in the determination, the internal motivation of the person. In order to achieve any goal, we are going to have to face challenges. We will have to work hard and do some things that are not exactly fun. Successful people know this and are willing to do what it takes.

Of course, it is going to be easier to achieve a desired outcome if we are naturally gifted in an area. If we are tall, agile and fast, it will certainly be easier to become an exceptional basketball player. If we love the game, it is even more likely that we will achieve the desired outcome.

There comes a time in every player’s career, however, when she doesn’t feel like practicing, when she is recovering from a painful injury, is unfairly criticized, or faces some other form of adversity.

Those are the times when she will have to do the things she does not like to do in order to achieve her desired outcome.

While Gray’s small book, The Common Denominator of Success is considered a classic in motivational literature, it was more anecdotal than scientific. Though many years have passed since its publication in 1940, there is still little we know about developing the skills necessary for success.

This is beginning to change, however. University of Pennsylvania researcher Angela Lee Duckworth discusses grit. She tells us, “Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina... Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”

While it is clear that grit is important to success, there is surprisingly little that we know about it, or how it is developed and fostered.

Grit does seem to be related to having what psychologist Carol Dweck refers to as a “growth mindset.” That is to say, we need to realize we are in a constant state of development, we are always improving. Our success is determined not so much by the abilities we are born with, but by our efforts for constant amelioration.

In essence, what do we already know about achieving success? First of all, it is clear that we need to have meaningful goals if we are ever going to achieve them. We need to know where we are going if we are ever going to arrive at our destination.

Secondly, we know that it is going to take a lot of hard work to achieve anything that is worthwhile. Whether our goal is to develop a successful business, become a champion athlete, to get an education, to raise healthy, happy and productive children, or to survive an ordeal, we are going to face seemingly insurmountable challenges.

If we can face them with determination, knowing that we become better and more effective human beings by tapping into our amazing resources, we will either achieve our goal, or we will achieve something even better.

It is very exciting to see the direction psychological and educational research is moving with regard to achieving our potential.

In many ways, we have always known what it takes to be successful, whether we call it having grit, a growth mindset or simply being willing to do the things we don’t like to do.

As science affirms our innate wisdom, the path to becoming our best selves grows that much clearer, and the whole world is able to benefit from our giftedness.