Numerous research, surveys and even interviews conducted by scientists and philosophers in pursuit of the ultimate way to success and excellence has seen them suggest various effective methods. One of the most conspicuous and outspoken methods is that of the Grit originating from Angela Duckworth who intellectually argued out her stance with prowess. Definitely defined by her as the power of passion and perseverance, startled many brought a whole lot of fresh research into that again. She put her best foot ever to what actually she treats as her best and it did not disappoint her as the efforts surely paid. It has been echoed in different books and even essays overtime.
Angela Duckworth who is a psychologist at the university Pennsylvania able to find out that the small input one student makes and its frequency was really vital in determining the long-term outcome of the students rather than the intelligence quotient of the student(Duckworth). this brings her finally grit which she entirely explains as the amount of effort ones put towards what he or she loves, the unbridled enthusiasm that one is able to put while carrying out the task. Of significance importance according to Duckworth is the ability to choose long term goal that to employ and through attitude change and full adoption of passion then change it full time duty with a complete positive attitude, and renewed vigor, be able to settle on a field that one constantly thinks about and has the ability. One is then expected to maintain their determination and optimism to the end, until the long term goal is exclusively achieved, the entire focused shift completely to the end result, several ideas are to be implemented step by step to ensure the goal is achieved as the endurance is maintained unto to the tail end. Research done by Mrs. Duckworth about gritty people bring out a unique sense of features of such people and an increased output level in their fields careers and even their talents, this people possess an indomitable will, they never say die, they have a complete different view about challenges and obstacles, in life, they view them as a steps tone or ladder to catapult them to success to success. The last vocabulary in their minds is giving up since failure is part and parcel of success.
Duckworth extensively explains using her research in the spelling bee completion that success and gritty people employ deliberate practice as pillar to push them forward. It does not matter how many words one can spell correctly, but in the result, a student who is able to dedicate their time to step by step practice on the words they find challenging and constantly working to reduce their weaknesses each time stand a chance of doing better than the smarter and more intelligent ones, in a nut shell the rate of intelligence and maturity is never constant, but constantly depends on the quantity and quality of the effort put, your will to succeed in that and your focus on the bigger picture, these people are able to draw a rare sense of renewed power that pays off as it turns to intrinsic motivation that drives to achievement of the long term goals simply pick your pick and make it your passion, dedicating your life into it. This is echoed by Anders Erickson who sheds light on what experts normally undergo. They actually carry out constant practice of so many hours but differently and in amore of unique manner, during this period they normally venture deeper into the science and they own and make it part of them and completely end up changing how they experience, they have the basic requirements that they require for the deliberate practice which they employ they have a vividly defined goal and action path towards it, secondly they embrace full concentration and effort delivery some employ the 10000 hours rule, immediate feedback is necessary to be able to track your progress(Kamatz). . And lastly, they repeat their actions with reflection and refinement. Hours, days and even years of toil and moil never wears them out, and so does failures and disappointments because in the end, it ends up in contribution to the well-being of many others as witnessed in the case of renown
Scientists like Albert Einstein and Aristotle who clarifies that success path is largely bitter, but the fruits are always sweet.
Duckworth also presents the unique idea that presents grit as the ability to cling on a top goal for a very long time with perseverance. And continuous active alignment of our thoughts towards that specific direction comes in handy(Kamatz). One must thus be able to marshal all materials and energy we should be able to reach a point where we are so obsessed with the top goal and resilience to remain at the top of the game. Carefully observe your life and combine all the means of attaining the goals all on one work towards that. More important to note is that talent without constant unrelenting effort and passion drive towards is less paying and less satisfactory to an individual and therefore for one to cling and remain there. Set your objectives right align your thoughts, marshal your strength and means.
Epitomes of grit also have some psychological assets that they employ. First, they always have the interest, and learn to move on when the things are getting to be tough. They definitely believe that when the going gets tough the tough gets going (Kamatz). They learn to discover their passion and then move to the most important face of it all, developing that passion which is a vital stage. It is worth noting that passion is inbuilt and can easily be developed through constant practice of the same. This tool is important in upbringing of children whose interests are are early discovered encouraged(Duckworth). Kids are at the same time encouraged to identify and pursue what they enjoy which will ultimately result to better outcome, the grittier a person is now made to be the fewer the amendments they make on their careers once they identified their passion and are projected to become experts faster.
Secondly, this people embrace powerful practice habit to become the best. They typically fall in love their careers and develop a rare sense of courage and indomitable will to apply the principles of deliberate practice. Thirdly they design their purposes which is normally connected to the world beyond(Duckworth). They openly reflect on the work they are doing and its effect to the wider society to be able to get the continued intrinsic motivation to keep them going. Scientist David Yeager recommends that one needs to reflect on what they have done and whether it makes a remarkable contribution to the society to be able to give a motivation on their sense of purpose of purpose. Third, gritty people are always hopeful and optimistic, they never dream of luck but believe in working hard and being able to get up again in the face of failure and despair. They always search for the causes of their suffering and gradually address them with a positive mindset. Duckworth encourages positive self-talk and positive mindset as tool to teaching ourselves hope. However, she also recognizes the importance of seeking help in doing the same.
Despite all the features and advantages of grit as tool to achieving excellence, it is also worth to note the bad site of it as put forward by critiques into it(Duckworth). It is presumed that grit focuses on the internal strength, the courage, one’s tenacity and ability to move on with whatever they believe is passionate about. However not all work and are able to achieve the expertise stage. Some of this category continue to hold on to their careers, situation or even marriage for the fear giving up. The fear other people’s opinion on the early exit from the course without hitting the finish line. Critics like Gale Lucas recalls staying in an unsuccessful marriage for long with the hope of recovery due to the grit she had and held on but only realizes later of the vital mistakes made later(Kamatz). This is just one among other cases of people who try to employ grit without passion. Perseverance is key in grit but also notable that without passion grit can be well harmful and result into unwarranted frustrations in life and late realization. So it is important to consider the concept of interest and passion in their lives.
The basic story line of this essay is basically an interview between Vedanta and Duckworth one side and Gale Lucas on the side. Vedanta seeks to shed light on the good and bad side and grit specifically to the target audience and thus has Duckworth a strong proponent of grit and Lucas Gale who is a critique of grit. They share their experiences views and ideas about grit and its application and relevance to the wider society
Duckworth has largely an assertive voice in her work and an appeal to all to embrace grit and its unique positive effects(Kamatz). The language used is illustrative and vivid with numerous examples to support the ideas and ideals of grit and gritty people. This has led clear understanding of the message and ideas presented hence adoption.
Mrs. Duckworth has largely achieved her vision of publicizing the importance of grit as a tool towards excellence as it has also received public acclamation and endorsement for implementation. Many are now convinced that we need to let our kids pick the arears they are passionate about and aid them in developing those areas through building their level of confidence, perseverance and tenacity. We also strive lay the foundation for deliberate practice in their lives
The target audience of Duckworth have accepted her grit ideals and also ready to try it out especially to their kids who are tomorrow’s generation. However, worth noting is that there is still some criticism on grit and its effectivity based on the fact that some percentage of people apply it unsuccessfully and end up disillusioned and frustrated more than ever (Duckworth).
The essay is set up vibrantly growing socio-economic set up with people greatly concerned on how to make the best of their talents and passion and bring out the best and probably expertise in their work. Demand for success and self-fulfillment is high among the people the seeking of different ways of discovering our strengths and building on them and addressing our weaknesses.
There is good usage of artistic devices in the work in the essay such music or basically songs as clearly brought out in the interview (Kamatz). This is specifically used to ease the tension and enable the target audience to effectively synthesize the information. It is also used to introduce and present different episodes and the change or slight diversion from the topics.
This idea and message about grit is relevant to the larger society at this age. It provides readers with an insight on how to identify their interests build their confidence levels enormously and base their work on passion to be able to love what they do and avoid frustrations. It gives inspiring ideas of building positive mentality and endurance in the face of difficulties. I highly recommend it to the younger generation who still have the zeal and zest to do much more in life.
In conclusion grit by Duckworth presents simple but unique way of building internal toughness and pursuing dreams based our inner passion and love. In spite of the critics it faces it is still clear that it a potential ultimate tool excellence in life.
Work cited
Duckworth, Angela ‘Grit, the power of passion and perseverance’ TED talk Transcript April 2013, ted.com/talks/angela lee Duckworth the power of passion and perseverance.
Kamatz, Anya. “MacArthur Genius Angela Duckworth responds to new critique of Grit”
http//www.npr.org/section/ed2016/5/18 grit analysis
Hunt, Angie “No evidence that grit improves performance, lowa state analysis finds”
http//www.news.iastate.edu/news/2016/5/25
