True Grit

Mark Dunagan
11/10/13 - Sunday Morning

True Grit

It's hard to beat the feeling of accomplishing a goal you've worked long and hard to achieve.  Of course, not all who set out on a course make it to their desired destination. What makes the difference? Human wisdom has offered a few possible explanations:

• Talent

You either have it or you don’t, and endless hours of hard work cannot always compensate for your or my biological limitations.

• IQ

You either have a high IQ helping you process and understand information at a higher speed than the next person, or you don’t. 

• Good Looks/Being Attractive

Fair or not, we live in a world in which opportunities and open doors too often go to more attractive people— a reality some of the comedians in my family have deemed "Cute girl discount."

• Family Income

Success sometimes goes to those who come from wealthier families who are able to get their kids into better schools.  These families often know the right people and getting ahead is all about the right connections.

Whatever talents, intelligence, good looks or ancestry we may enjoy come only by the hand of God, and while they may have a short range advantage in achieving one's goals, most studies presently argue that none of those things are the key in whether or not a person is successful.  This comes as no surprise, for how many times have you seen people who had all of the above quit and thus fail to achieve success.   What a waste to see people squander a great family upbringing, or intelligence or tremendous talent.

The Importance of Grit

The word “grit” can be defined as, “passion for a long term goal”, “firmness of character”, “an indomitable spirit—that is someone who just does not give up”, whose life displays the appealing qualities of “resilience”, “perseverance”, “hardiness”, and “unyielding courage”.

The Bible and Grit

While my English translation of Scripture does not use the term “grit”, the following verses do support the value of such a quality:

• “We are not of those who shrink back to destruction, but of those who have faith to the preserving of the soul” (Hebrews 10:39).
• “Suffer hardship with me, as a good soldier of Christ Jesus” (2 Timothy 2:3).
• “Take pains with these things; be absorbed in them” (1 Timothy 4:15).
• “It is for this we labor and strive” (1 Timothy 4:10).
• “To those who by perseverance in doing good” (Romans 2:7).
• “But the one who endures to the end, it is he who shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13).

Recent Studies

In recent research, published this month in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science,  was led by Angela Duckworth, a psychologist at Penn. entitled “Deliberate Practice Spells Success: Why Grittier Competitors Triumph at the National Spelling Bee” (Anders-Ericsson/senior author), psychologists were interested in the set of traits that allowed kids to practice deliberately. Their data set consisted of 190 participants in the Scripps National Spelling Bee, a competition that requires thousands of hours of practice. The first thing Duckworth, et. al. discovered is that deliberate practice works. Those kids who spent more time in deliberate practice mode – involving studying and memorizing words while alone, often on note cards – performed much better at the competition than those children who were quizzed by others or engaged in leisure reading. An though deliberate practice is not fun (and was consistently rated as the least enjoyable form of self-improvement) nevertheless, as these spellers gained experience, they devoted increasing amounts of time to deliberate practice. This suggests that even twelve year olds realize that this is what makes them better, that success isn’t easy. But why were some kids better at drilling themselves with note cards? What explained this variation in hours devoted to deliberate practice? After analyzing the data, Duckworth discovered the importance of a psychological trait known as grit. In previous papers, Duckworth has demonstrated that grit can be reliably measured with a short survey that measures consistency of passions (e.g., ‘‘I have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest’’) and consistency of effort (e.g., ‘‘Setbacks don’t discourage me’’) over time using a 5-point scale. Not surprisingly, those with grit were more single-minded about their goals – they tended to get obsessed with certain activities – and also were more likely to persist in the face of struggle and failure. Woody Allen famously declared that “Eighty percent of success is showing up”. Grit is what allows you show up again and again.  (Which Traits Predict Success:  The Importance of Grit, by Jonah Lehrer).

Taken together, this study and others suggest as Mr. Lehrer commented,  “that our most important talent is having a talent for working hard, for practicing even when practice isn’t fun. It’s about putting in the hours when we’d rather be watching TV, or drilling ourselves with note cards filled with obscure words instead of getting quizzed by a friend. Success is never easy. That’s why talent requires grit”. 

The Christian and Grit

Obviously more is at stake than simply meeting earthly goals.  Determination or grit is essential to the whole man and for every aspect of our existence.

• Overcoming temptation not just for a season but for the long haul.
• Staying faithful when being faithful is not popular.
• Staying with the vision of being the church that Jesus established when others lose interest and follow after the latest fad.
• Staying married and continuing to work on your relationship.
• Continuing to share the gospel with others even after many rejections.
• Continuing to study the word of God even though you have read it many times before.

So How Do We Teach Grit to Our Kids?

• We can model it in our own lives.  We can be an example of someone who refuses to give up.
• We need to remind our children that the ability to learn is not fixed.  Failure is never a permanent condition.  Actually our minds grow with every effort.  The person with grit understands that they are mentally growing even when they failed.  So they try again.  The mind grows with use (Hebrews 5:12).
• Our children will see many people “sprint” through things, but we need to remind them that grit views life as a long distance run and not a 50 yard dash.  Getting there quickest is not the point.  Rather actually learning, growing, maturing, treating people right on the way up, helping others get there as well and getting there in good shape and knowing what to do when you get there is more important.
• Do not worry about the IQ.  It is simply the ability to process things faster.  Yet, something is far more essential.  First, a love for the truth, because with it (2 Thess. 2:10-12) we will simply spend our time processing false information or information that tickles our ears (2 Timothy 4:3).  Second, determination or grit.  We have all seen gifted people quit, sulk, and get the wrong attitude.
• When sometime is hard it does not mean we are failing, most things worth learning and doing will take effort.  The fact that you did not understand it the first time—is normal.

Remember the Divine Help

Of all the people in the world, Christians should be the most determined because:

• We have the best reason for trying---to glorify God.
• We have the ultimate reward for doing the right thing---eternity in heaven.
• We have the best instruction book available on having the right attitude and staying motivated—the Bible.
• We have the clearest view of what is at stake: Ecclesiastes 12:13-14
• We have the ultimate example of determination---Jesus.
• Taken all together, this means that with our effort and God’s help we can truly do all things:  Ephesians 3:20; Philippians 4:13

Mark Dunagan  |  mdunagan@frontier.net
Beaverton Church of Christ  |  503-644-9017
www.beavertonchurchofchrist.net