Day 28 | Daily Dose of learning
This project is inspired by the ‘100-day project’, a challenge consisting of committing to doing an activity everyday for 100 days.
I have decided to write about one thing I learn everyday for the next 30 days. This can be a skill, a deep concept to elaborate on, or a mere life lesson that made me become aware of something I consider relevant.
The decision is based on the belief that “we are what we repeatedly do”, as Valentin Perez put it.
Grit
This is from a video by Ali Abdaal on the book ‘Grit’ by Angela Duckworth.
Generally, we tend to think that talent is what makes the difference when it comes to being successful. What if this is not exactly true? What if there’s something more to it?
“Our vanity, our self-love, promotes the cult of the genius. For if we think of genius as something magical, we are not obliged to compare ourselves and find ourselves lacking.”
In the book ‘Grit’, author Angela Duckworth (psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania) explores the roots of success by diving into the discoveries she made during years of research in the field. And she digs deep into explaining why grit matters and what makes the real difference in achieving ‘success’.
Duckworth argues that passion and effort are key components to achievement and success.
ACHIEVEMENT= TALENT x EFFORT^2
PASSION + PERSEVERANCE = GRIT
The first key component to grit is therefore ‘passion’, which is to be found by exploring things, making experiences, trying many activities and expanding one’s comfort zone in order to find something that is genuinely interesting.
Second, ‘perseverance’. There are 2 main concepts to perseverance. The first one is the mindset of deliberate practice (i.e. working smartly and intentionally on the thing you want to improve / learn with a long-term mindset). The second is ‘kaizen’, the japanese way of living that is centered around continuous improvement.
Third component of ‘grit’ is purpose, which is part of the passion element of the equation. Purpose refers to the intrinsic ‘why’ of doing something; the reason that guides the actions.
Fourth and last, develop a growth mindset, i.e. a mindset oriented towards becoming better, everyday, and believing that improvement is possible and depends on your daily choices. A growth mindset is the opposite of a fixed mindset.