Achieve Success in Life using Grit — Beat Talent and do Anything?

“Hi, I’m Paul Krismer with the Happiness Experts Company. Why is it that some people with lots of talent don’t achieve that much, while others who are less talented seem to accomplish truly great things? Today, we will explore how great achievement happens through the lens of positive psychology science. I’ll teach you four basic ingredients that can drive your performance way, way up.”

“As a coach, public speaker, and best-selling author, I teach topics just like this one all around the world. So, stay tuned, and I’ll give you practical tools that you can use to make both yourself and those around you both happier and more successful. We know that having a sense of accomplishment and achieving goals is a basic way to feel happy. The granddaddy of positive psychology — a guy named Martin Seligman, even puts a special emphasis on achievement as fundamental to our well being.”

“One of Seligman’s best students has taken the study of accomplishing meaningful goals to a whole new level. That student, now a scholar in her own right, is Angela Duckworth. Duckworth has made her major focus of research on the concept of grit. She describes grit as the combination of passion and perseverance. Importantly, she points out that our society over emphasizes the significance of talent. Talent; the natural ability to learn a skill; is of course important. But, study most high achievers and you quickly see that talent was not the main thing that drove their success. Record-breaking Olympic swimmer Michael Phelps has won more gold medals than any other Olympic athlete.”

“He clearly has gobs of natural talent and a body that seems strangely well made to swim. He has a gargantuan wingspan, huge feet, and quite literally bizarre ankle flexibility that aids in his kicking motions. Now, too often, we look to people like Phelps and chalk up their success to talent, but undoubtedly, lots of people have unusually good physique for swimming, or stunning voices for singing, or mathematical instincts, or any number of natural talents. What sets Phelps and other superstars apart is, more often than not, grit. Phelps has a passion like few others in his sport. In fact, he demonstrates this passion by having set completely new standards for training. The man literally doubles the training time of most Olympic swimmers. He trained 5 to 6 hours a day, six days a week, and before he retired, he sustained this regimen for nearly 20 years. Now that’s passion and perseverance!”

“The science of grit is not crystal clear on how a person can become more gritty. Some people may be born with a high level of grit, but we do know what grit consists of. It boils down to four basic principles. One: a passionate interest. What do you care most about? If money were no object, how would you spend your time? I’ve got a special resource for you to help with this; find it in the link below. Two: the ability to practice. This is often a function of building good habits. To begin a new behavioral pattern, we often rely on willpower, but once the pattern is established, we can put the habit on cruise control because routine and ritual behaviors automate our consistent practice.”

“Three: Purpose. We have to be clear on the ‘why’ of what we do. If a desired achievement is truly worthwhile, we have to be able to list the reasons with power and clarity. Four: Optimistic hope, founded in realism. Gritty people envision the future that they want and hold that vision steady. Hope carries people through the biggest obstacles and keeps the fire burning even in the darkest times. What drives you? What fuels your interests? Can you build the habits that sustain performance long enough to accomplish your goals? These kinds of topics are great to work through with a coach. You may find success and greater life satisfaction is just around the corner for you.”

“If you’re not sure where your biggest passions lie, then check out the link below. It’s a short exercise that helps you find your passions, which is really helpful if you’re struggling to find out what really interests you. If you already know your passions, it’s still nice to go through and see if you discover something new. Also, in the description below, there’s a link to a handy infographic. This summarizes the proven truth of grit as the secret to great accomplishment. Now, it’s my life’s mission to help the world be happier. Please like and share this video and you will make the world happier too. If you’d like to see more of this kind of video content, please subscribe to my channel. Until next time, I’m your happiness expert, Paul Krismer. Thanks for watching.”