The Power of Persistence
From early childhood, we are often told that talent is the key to success and happiness. Whether it’s in academics, sports, or the arts, our society values innate abilities.
While talent certainly has its merits, success is often guided by qualities that hold greater significance. In this article, I will delve into the reasons behind society’s obsession with talent and uncover a critical problem that is lurking beneath the surface.
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| Photo by Brooke Cagle on Unsplash |
Let us together question, reflect, and rethink the role of talent!
Society’s obsession with talent
In our society, talent is favored over hard work.
Even though we might say we believe hard work is crucial, we implicitly prefer talent. We admire those who make things look easy - psychological tests (that implicitly compare talent and hard work), confirm our talent preference.
But why does society care so much about talent?
- Media: We love success stories and we even love them more if we account them for talent. Think of the media including social platforms, TV, movies, etc. - they focus on and celebrate people with extraordinary talent. The constant spotlight on talented individuals contributes to a widespread belief that having outstanding talents is not only admirable but highly desirable. Whether it’s a musician with an incredible voice, an athlete with unmatched skills, or an actor delivering compelling performances, these talents capture the public’s admiration.
- It makes us look better ourselves: If someone has become an “overnight” success, we usually think it’s because they’re talented or got lucky, not because they had worked hard. It’s a way to protect ourselves from feeling like we’re not doing well. We might even believe we’d be just as successful if we had their talent. But we were just unlucky or just didn’t have their talent, so it is no wonder that they are more successful than we are.
- Cultural and social influence: Some cultures place a high value on individual talents and achievements, leading to an emphasis on talent in various aspects of life. For instance, companies like McKinsey proudly show off their talented consultants as a selling point. They say, “If you hire us, you’re getting the best and most talented people.”
This has been just a small excerpt of why our society values talent so much.
Perseverance vs. talent
So yes, in our society, we assign talent a key role in success and it certainly plays a role, but what counts in the end is what we do with our talents.
Successful people have not only talent.
Successful people have perseverance and passion. What does that mean?
- Perseverance: Persisting in a course of action despite facing obstacles, difficulties, or setbacks. It involves a determined effort to achieve goals or overcome challenges, requiring patience, resilience, and a willingness to continue working even when faced with adversity.
- Passion: Why is passion important? Think about working on a topic over a really long period of time: to hang in there passion makes it easier and even becomes a necessity at some point.
The combination of perseverance and passion has a name. The psychologist and author Angela Ducksworth named it grit. Her research is proof of the importance of effort in success (and that it actually trumps pure talent).
People with grit can be more successful than “natural” with little grit. Only through effort, we can make something of our talents and it is also the effort that leads to success. In her work, she summarizes the importance of grit (and effort) with two simple equations:
- Skill is the combination of talent and effort: skill = talent × effort
- Achievement is the combination of skill and effort: achievement = skill × effort
If combined this means that achievement = talent × effort × effort. Hence, effort goes two-fold into the equation of achievement.
How gritty are you?
If you are interested in how gritty you are, you can try this quick online test—it only takes a minute.
Grit is not unchangeable like height or IQ. In fact, the latter two factors are not immutable either. Studies show that height and IQ have increased in recent decades - this is attributed to improved living conditions. This is the Flynn Effect.
But it is easier to increase your grit than to increase e.g. your IQ. You can either train your grittiness (inside-out) or acquire more grittiness by being taught (outside-in).
How to increase your grit from the inside out
Passion
A passion is nothing innate, it develops over time and at some point becomes a purpose.
Finding purpose is a great motivator. Grit paragons, who show extraordinary determination, often find purpose in a “calling.”
People often say you should turn your passion into a career for job satisfaction, but you don’t need to find the perfect job. You can start from where you are:
- You could, of course, find meaning in your current job role
- Job crafting (adapting your job within the job description so that it becomes meaningful)
- Searching for an inspiring role model
Practice
Grit and practice go hand in hand. those with high grit scores practice more and perform better in competitions. It matters a lot how you practice.
The best strategy is deliberate practice.
Deliberate practice means, tackling challenging problems, which is key to skill development, even though it can be tiring. Gritty individuals spend more time on it.
It’s helpful if you love what you’re doing, but the practice isn’t always enjoyable—especially deliberate practice, which takes more effort than it does fun. The fun part starts when you use your skills: if you like what you’re doing and you’re doing well, you’ll likely get into a “flow” state—a state of effortless attention when the challenge matches your abilities.
With deliberate practice, you cannot (by its definition) get into flow because the challenge should be greater than your skill level. Hence, we build (learn) our skills through deliberate practice and experience the state of flow when we apply our skills.
Mindset
“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t–you’re right.” - Henry Ford
I find this quote really strong, and I believe it holds a lot of truth. Our mindset is important—really important. I’m not saying you can do anything just by thinking about it. There are many other important things you need to do to succeed, and having the right mindset alone isn’t enough. But it can help tremendously.
Having the right mindset lets you see challenges differently and keep going even when things get tough. It’s also a lot about hope—having hope that you’ll succeed.
Feeling like there’s no hope can crush your motivation and make your goals seem impossible. Where does this hopelessness come from? It comes from enduring pain, but not just any pain—it’s from suffering that you think you cannot control.
To develop perseverance, you need the right mindset. You need to believe that you’re in control,
How to increase your grit from the outside in
Parenting
Parenting can influence a child’s grit a lot.
In parenting, two important things are being there for your kids no matter what (that’s support), and also setting expectations for them (that’s being demanding). It’s like being a cheerleader and a coach at the same time.
Growing up, we all need challenges, not just easy ones, but the kind that really pushes us.
If we combine support and being demanding on a grid, four different parenting styles emerge.
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| Matrix of perenting-styles, source: Grit by Angela Ducksworth |
The one that truly builds grit in our children is “Wise Parenting”. It means being demanding, but also supporting our children whenever they need our support.
Here’s an idea called the “hard rule” (creds to Angela Ducksworth): each family member should take on a challenging activity they stick with regularly. For kids, this might mean picking a yearly challenge like learning an instrument or starting a sport, and committing to it for a year. They need to stick to the activity but are allowed to drop it after committing to it for a year.
Why does this help build grit?
It teaches us not to give up when things get tough. Many times, we need to practice a bit and gain some skill before we can truly enjoy an activity (if you’re not good at something, it’s usually not very fun).
Teaching & Coaching
For coaches and teachers, it is easier to be more demanding and help kids build grit because they often have a more objective perspective.
Since they are not emotionally involved in the same way parents are, they can provide constructive challenges and expectations without being overly influenced by personal feelings. This allows them to maintain a balance between support and pushing for growth, helping kids develop resilience and perseverance.
In school, there’s usually a challenging part which is important to build grit. But it might not always be fun (the passionate side of grit). Extracurricular activities, on the other hand, mix both fun and challenge. That’s why they’re really good at teaching you grit.
Culture
Culture can have an impact on grit too.
Think of the Finnish concept of “Sisu”. It stands for extraordinary determination, courage, and resilience in the face of adversity. It’s about having the inner strength to persevere and push through challenges, even when the odds seem daunting.
Can there be too much grit?
Can we ever have too much of a good thing? - Miguel de Cervantes
How do you feel about this quote? If I think about Don Quijote from Cervantes’ stories, I’d say yes. Just like Don Quijote went a bit crazy from reading too many novels, we can overdo things too: too much sports is not good (and too little isn’t either), and some things are even harmful in certain amounts.
But I don’t think we need to be too worried about having too much grit in our society. Actually, our society has room to grow in this aspect.
However, it’s also good to stop doing things if we’re not finding any passion in them: perseverance at all costs is not that good.
Still, grit is good in general. If we boost our grit, we can find success—even if we start with just an average talent.
For this article, I’ve used the book “Grit” by Angela Ducksworth as a main resource. I can highly recommend reading the whole book. Please support your local library and buy from them.