The Key to Success

 If you click on the following link:  "The Key to Success? Grit." you'll be taken to a Youtube video of a TEDtalk by Angela Lee Ducksworth. In the video, Angela tells us a bit about herself. While teaching at public school, she becomes aware of how her students actually learn. She says their intelligence levels are not based on IQ or talents. In fact, she noticed some of the smartest children weren't doing very well. After becoming a psychologist, Angela conducted many studies where she predicted which people in certain situations would continue in their line of work or training, and who would wind up dropping out. Over time, she figured out how to predict success: Grit.
Grit, as Angela defines, is, "living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint." In other words, grit is determination and drive for your passions. She says grit is not based on talents, but rather is tied in with growth mind set, a theory developed at Stanford by Carol Dweck. Growth mind set is the belief that our learning capacity is not fixed, and it can change with effort.
Two years ago, I had this idea of growth mind set instilled in me by one of my many great teachers. I personally liked the idea that the more effort we as students put in, the more we could improve ourselves. More so, I think I hated the idea of putting in effort, or making yourself vulnerable to the criticisms of others, and not being able to progress from that point, to not be able to learn from the so called mistake you just made.
Still, grit is something you use everyday, something you need everyday. Without passion and goals, without dreams and perseverance, you may be alive, but you're not really living. Quite possibly my favourite quote is, "Speak the truth, even if your voice shakes," (Anonymous). I feel this fits in well with the concept of grit. Essentially, the quote states that you should always push through when you have something of importance to say, like the truth, even if you're unsure of yourself. If you're passionate on a topic, if you feel something needs to be done or said, you need to persevere. You need to have grit. The last part, "even if your voice shakes," almost defines grit. If someone is terrified of doing or saying something but they do it anyway, I can almost guarantee you that they have grit. Grit means being determined, taking chances, and risking failure, which is something we all need to do from time to time if we ever want to our world to develop and grow.