Grit: Perseverance And Passion For Long-Term Goals

Grit the Pathway to Success

The quality of unimaginable success is determined by grit. Despite confronting difficult life circumstances that delay the process individuals who are passionate, intelligent, and dedicated to one’s own success will continue maintaining consistency throughout their journey. Success is measured by an individuals’ commitment to effectively work hard towards life-changing goals. In the journal article “Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-term Goals,” Angela L. Duckworth conducts several studies in order to convey human’s capacity for higher achievements while still enduring challenges and failure. Although Duckworth’s research has proven that individuals who are less gritty tend to shift trajectory, I believe working hard and keeping “stamina” is essentially the key to achieving your goals (1088).

In the terms of education maintaining a functional mentality for success, you have to be gritty.

As a college student no matter the circumstances that life tossed my direction I still needed to find it in me to survive these challenges. Challenges as far as providing the financial stability for my family, maintaining healthy relationships and a social life even outside of college. Also, acknowledging the fact that I took on the role of being a first-generation student is realizing that I am sacrificing time to attend college. Additionally, Duckworth highlights that “some people sustain effort not because of subjective interest but rather because they are afraid of change… or unaware of alternative options” (1090). She clarifies that grit is maintained by the consistency of interest over time. The pivotal to obtaining higher education is to successfully move through the dynamics of life over time. The mindset that is transferred throughout the journey is what keeps focus on reaching an associates degree, graduating with my class, and finding work out in the real

world.
One crucial obstacle that might call upon my grit is allowing my stress and anxiety to consume me. Duckworth states that “work ethic and desire for excellence [is] consonant with grit [but can also have] irrelevant qualities such as the need for money, domination of others, superiority over competitors, and social status” (1089). She clarifies that grit and the need for success are sometimes established by social influence factors. In the same manner, that my educational journey has been socially influenced by desiring to complete my associates by a specific age. As a matter of fact, realistically college will not always have the available courses needed to speed up my transfer rate. “Our intuition is that grit grows with age and that one learns from experience that quitting plans, shifting goals, and starting over repeatedly are not good strategies for success,” Duckworth clarifies that moving forward from “dead-end pursuits” demonstrates future development for excellence (1092). The slow momentum of working hard and keeping to my studies without no distractions will guarantee my spot at graduation. I have experienced the frustration of feeling unsatisfied due to being in college for about two years now. The slow momentum of college becomes dreadful and I am constantly asking myself is all this sacrifice really worth it.
Since there is minimal evidence to contradict Duckworth’s theory of “specific processes” and “behaviors set in motion by grit” that are associated with achievement, success is affiliated with the ability to pursue greater accomplishments while undergoing life’s dilemmas (1100). Duckworth further examines that “our suspicion is that grit, like IQ, is of ubiquitous importance in all endeavors in which success requires months or even years of sustained effort and interest” (1099). She illuminates that even through all the conducted research and studies the evidence points out that individuals will always significantly put importance in all their efforts to become successful. One major motivation I have in college in order to be successful in life is to strive higher even after receiving my associate degree. To continue pursuing education and never stop learning new material that constantly shifts in the real world.