“Do not judge me by my success, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.” Nelson Mandela

Why is it important to live life like a marathon, not a sprint?

The reason, according to American psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth, is that taking a longer-term view can help us to better navigate the inevitable ups and downs of life.

Think back to the start of this year.

Did you have grand plans, a vision for your new improved life, but somehow your daily life got in the way of reaching those goals?

The key is whether you see yourself as failing or still waiting to succeed.

The answer is crucial, according to Duckworth.

When she was in her late 20s, she left a demanding job as a management consultant for what she said was an even more demanding one — teaching maths to early high school students in New York’s public system.

She realised that among her students, whether they were successful or not wasn’t about intelligence.

“What struck me was that IQ was not the only difference between my best and my worst students,” she said during a TEDx talk.

“Some of the best performers didn’t have the highest IQ score, and some of smartest kids weren’t doing so well.”

When she looked at what determined who was successful, one characteristic emerged as a predictor of success: it was the student’s level of resilience, or what she calls “grit”.

And her findings were replicated across a number of environments from the West Point Military Academy to the National Spelling Bee.

What is grit?

Grit, as Duckworth defines it, is having passion and perseverance, sticking to long-term goals and having the emotional stamina to keep going, when others have given up.

Grit is living life like a marathon, not a sprint, she said.

It means believing you are capable of change and growth and seeing setbacks as only a temporary impediment to achieving your goals is crucial.

Source
ABC Health & Wellbeing