What is grit?

Being out of school for so long, it has been a challenge coming back. Multiple times I have thought, “What have I gotten myself into?” A bad dream about a typo in my first published article, it sounds ridiculous, to not knowing how I’m going to stay ahead of all the assignments that are only going to increase in volume. But I know I can do it.

Last night I watched a TED Talk with Angela Lee Duckworth, with a Ph.D. in psychology with an interesting background. With research to back her up she proposes that it’s not IQ, nor social ability, nor financial means, that will ensure long term goals. She says it’s grit, the melding of passion and perseverance that will see you through.

This week’s blog started out as something completely different. Writing in an obnoxious pub would provide a challenge in the past. One of my biggest weaknesses perhaps strengths is my short attention span. Which has been mostly ignored since I’ve started school. Two waitresses in this pub are CreComm grads, one from Red River College, the other from a program near Toronto. I have no judgment in what they chose, but it almost feels like a waste having met so many rapidly successfully people in the past month. It actually gives me hope that there’ll be less competition after school.

What is Grit? Grit, is why I’m here, the tedium that was my work life for far too long.  Striving for something to fill my life with more than a simple job that pays well, something that I can be excited about for a long time, something I can proud of, something exciting.

Grit is why I chose a prominent Winnipegger to interview for my personality profile, why I’ve written for every edition of our school newspaper, why I’m immersing myself in the whole experience.

Agree? Disagree? What is Grit to you? Let me know.

TED conference