Today, we’re continuing our series on being more resilient, persevering for longer and having more grit. In particular, here are ten ways to be more gritty – derived from Caroline Adams Miller’s book, Getting Grit.
1 Strengths
Can you start to see the overlap of some of the things we’ve been talking about in our Career Mastery posts? It makes sense that if we if we work in our strengths then we’ll enjoy what we do more, be better engaged and naturally stick at things for longer. It’s an easy access point to having more grit.
Action: Know your strengths!
2 Build Passion
We need energy to run the marathon of mastering our life-long career. It sure helps to be lit up on the inside by something that you’re enthused and passionate about.
Reflection: What inspires you and gives you energy?
3 Pursue Purpose
The research suggests the best way to develop your purpose is to pursue your passion first and then let it emerge.
Reflect: What’s truly important to you?
4 Be Happy
Have you had this backwards? Be happy to be successful. That’s right! Be happy first and success is more likely to follow.
Action: To flourish we need high-quality relationships. Invest in yours this week – at work and at home.
5 Set Tough Goals
Setting tough goals directs our attention to what’s important; they fuel our energy better than easy goals and lead us to discover our own skills, resources and strategies for success.
Action: Review your goals. Are they tough enough?
6 Self-Regulate
Self-regulation centres on having enough willpower to delay gratification so that goal pursuit and goal accomplishment is more likely.
Action: Avoid alcohol for a week (or longer) – it’s the single biggest killer of our willpower.
7 Take Risks
To learn and grow we need to tackle new things. This means we risk failing.
Action: Step outside your comfort zone and take on something new this week.
8 Be Humble
Ironically, one of the most under-rated qualities for success is to be humble. People are more likely to cooperate with you if they can trust you. Being humble makes this easier.
Notice: Pay attention to your ego taking over this week. It’s not all about you!
9 Persevere
It’s not that high grit people like working hard compared to low grit people, they simply accept it as the price to pay for the rewards they’re seeking.
Action: Enjoy the struggle of hard work this week. You don’t have to like it and do it anyway.
10 Be Patient
High grit people pursue long-term goals. This requires a degree of patience.
Notice: Are you being patient right now? Pay attention to this in the week ahead.
Your mission if you choose to accept it is: Pick one of these grit principles and take on the task for the week ahead.
If you want some support, drop us a message about the challenge you’ve taken on and I’ll keep you accountable.
PS: Want to be more gritty? One of the ten ways we’ve outlined above is to play to your strengths – the topic of next week’s breakfast. Register here.