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Grit Lesson

Strategies for Succeeding in the Classroom (and in life)!

This module provides suggestions on how to be successful in the classroom and by extension in your life. You are encouraged to study these strategies and if they seem reasonable to you, adapt them for this class.

Key Concepts

The following key concepts are provided in this module:

  1. Grit is the ability to apply sustained effort towards your goals (and is the biggest predictor of life-long success),
  2. "Effort Counts Twice" (effort is more important than talent in achieving goals),
  3. Adopt a growth mindset and grow your brain, and
  4. Utilize the attitude of "Not Yet" (versus never).

Grit

Angela Duckworth, a psychologist, studied the topic of who is successful and why. One of the focuses of her research was on whether talent or effort was more important. Conventional wisdom would say that talent (and intelligence) is much more important than effort. One of Dr. Duckworth’s conclusion is that effort counts twice and is more important than talent!

“Science shows that grit, the sustained application of effort towards lifelong goals, is the biggest predictor of life-long success. Dr. Duckworth states grit can be grown and recommends the following four steps:

  1. Develop a fascination,
  2. Daily improvement,
  3. Greater purpose, and
  4. Adapt a growth mindset.

Further information about grit can be found at this excellent YouTube video.

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset was one of the recommendations from Dr. Duckworth on how to grow grit based upon research from Dr. Dweck. Students with a growth mindset view intelligence as a muscle that can be grown rather than a trait like eye color. Studies have shown that students with a growth mindset do better in school than students with a fixed mindset. Further information about how a growth mindset improves your education and the difference between a fixed and growth mindset is available in this YouTube video created by Bryan University.

Never versus Not Yet

A key component of a growth mindset is the attitude of never versus not yet. Henry Ford had a famous quote: "Whether you think you can or you can't, you're right." If you think that you can't, you have a fixed mindset and as Henry Ford, said you can't. Thomas Edison was asked about the number of failed experiments that he had regarding his attempts to invent the light bulb. Mr. Edison responded that "I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work." This is an excellent example of a growth mindset and the attitude of not yet. Mr. Pastrana discusses the not yet attitude in his YouTube video.