Grit to Great summary

When the highwire artist Nick Wallenda traversed the Grand Canyon on a 1,400-foot-long wire, he slipped and had no safety net to catch him. But he didn’t fall. Instead, using nothing but his ability and intensive training, he managed to stay on the wire.

And just like Nick, there’s going to come a time in your career when you need to lose the proverbial safety net. That’s because if you’ve got grit and passion, your career will take off, and if you want to ride the rising tide of this success you will have to let go of your safe zone. This is the moment when people with grit start taking calculated risks and diving headfirst into uncharted waters.

Did you know that Van Gogh only sold one painting before he died? It might come as a shock since his paintings have wowed art lovers across the world and fetched record-breaking prices. But even though he didn’t get recognition during his lifetime, Van Gogh still produced over 2,000 paintings!

How?

We’ve all experienced failure and everyone knows it can be tough. However, it’s not your failures that define you, but what you do with them. For instance, even star poker players are dealt losing hands some of the time, but the best of them know how to learn from their mistakes and grow through them.

And it’s not just true for card players. Regardless of what you do, over the course of your career you’ll inevitably face failure and seemingly insurmountable obstacles, but every single one of these challenges is a chance to learn and improve. For instance, Eleanor Longden was diagnosed schizophrenic after hearing voices in her head that played on her most deep-seated fears of failure and abandonment.

Do you ever wonder how humans thousands of years ago managed to survive, despite the elements, diseases and wild animals? The key to their success was group work: helping each other, sharing food and increasing each other’s quality of life was essential to the development of the first human communities. The same is true today.

In fact, helping others will actually boost your own motivation. For instance, have you ever lent a hand to an elderly women by carrying her heavy bags? Have you offered a blanket, shelter or food to a homeless person? If you have done these things, or anything like them, you’ve probably felt like a better person and experienced a wave of gratification.