Grit summary

When Bill Clinton climbed the political ladder all the way to the US presidency, he made it look effortless. For Hillary Clinton, on the other hand, it has never looked easy. But this could actually end up working in her favor.

Effort not only leads to skill; it also leads to results, which makes effort twice as important as talent!

Conventional wisdom says that we should do what we love. But, more importantly, you need to stay committed to doing what you love. Giving yourself small daily chores is a good way to keep up your levels of effort.

Low-level goals like these can serve as a path to meeting your goals.

Do you ever have trouble getting motivated during your workday? If so, you’re not alone. A 2014 Gallup poll revealed that two-thirds of US workers don’t feel motivated by their job, with most people finding their job boring. In fact, only 13 percent of workers said they feel engaged with their work.

These statistics highlight a simple fact. No matter how much grit you have, if you want to stay motivated, it’s important to do something that interests you.

If you’ve spent a lot of time studying for exams, it’s likely you know how easy it is to spend an entire day copying down useless information and then ending up with a disappointing score.

The fact is that practicing hard can be a waste of time if you don’t practice intelligently.

There’s no getting around the fact that sometimes we have to do things we don’t like. And chances are we’ve all procrastinated and postponed doing a task that seemed like a hassle.

The best way to avoid procrastination is to get motivated by finding the purpose in your work.

Unfortunately, children get exposed to all sorts of bad advice, especially when they’re told that they’ll never be smart enough and that hard work is a waste of time.

This can lead to people never realizing their full potential, so to prevent this from happening it’s important to recognize and encourage hard work instead of just rewarding talent.

It’s not uncommon to see an athlete show grit and determination to overcome a bad start and go on to win the match. But less common is seeing this mindset get promoted on a national scale.

Unless you’re in Finland, where exactly these cultural values are widely promoted.