Summary Of Grit: The Power Of Passion And Perseverance

While I am not as experienced in the faculty of endurance as Shackleton was, my trials as a distance runner have bequeathed me with a concrete idea of what endurance is. My debilitating cramps, my slogs through mud pits that were formerly legitimate trails, and my stomach emptying wretches on the side of the sizzling track have enstilled in me the prerequisite for a belief that what I am doing really matters. When I fail to maintain a positive mental attitude, my exhausted legs slow in their powerful dance; they simply refuse to go any faster as the blanket of apathy envelopes me. Although my running horror story pales in comparison to Shackleton's epic of frostbite and starvation, the workout early on a rainy Saturday morning in November required that I suck it up and believe in what I was doing. I had already run three one mile repeats at a ridiculously fast rate of speed over the trail with the biggest hill in site. When Coach asked

Besides physique, an important factor in an athlete’s training process is centering their attention so as to develop a certainty in their ability to perform and succeed in reaching their goals. Though in some scenarios, an outside party, whether a family member, friend, coach, or the general population of spectators, can remain doubtful about an athlete’s ability. It is this adversity that calls the athlete to remain certain in achieving success. A famous example of this is the British distance runner, Roger Bannister, who was the first man to run a sub-four-minute mile. For years leading up to his record-breaking race, experts had determined that the human body was incapable of running faster than four minutes for a mile; hence, they regarded Bannister’s goal as impractical and unreachable. Despite this skepticism, Bannister continued to train, remaining certain that the sub-four-minute barrier was in fact breakable. On May 6, 1954, he ran 3:59.4. With the presence of hardened doubt of Bannister’s ability, it was undoubtedly his unwavering certainty that allowed him to break that four-minute barrier. In fact, it was Bannister’s certainty that a sub-minute mile was possible and his subsequent performance in proving that belief that led to the normalization of breaking four minutes in

Before asking any questions, Erin starts off by mentioning how amazed she is by runners she states “ But whenever i actually talk to a runner, i see the passion for the sport eeking out of every body movement they make”. She doesn’t understand how they can run for miles and miles without getting tired while she gets tired by just simply chasing after her kids. She figured that a runner would be perfect to interview. She chose Noelle because her and Erin have a lot in common they are both mother of two kids, twins to be exact and both love to do photography. Noelle Isaak just recently began running but in such a little time she has trained hard for marathons, she even fainted at the GO! St. Louis Marathon which was held in extremely hot and humid weather she only ran 21 out of 26 miles. She explains that her training routine is a very long and rigorous process from spending 5 to 7 days a week training for up to 2 to 4 hours and still having to come home to start off her normal day. No matter how many marathons she’s run she still likes to train as if it’s her first race because she believes that running is one of the hardest sports. One question in specific that was interesting was “What do you think is the biggest misconception about the sport or runners in general?” her answer was very open and honest. She responded with “That running must come easy. Until recently i was never a runner. I never felt like i was cut

What is Grit? Grit is passion. Grit is perseverance. Grit is what everyone including teachers and students should possess. Along with passion and perseverance, to me, in order for one to possess grit in their life, they must be determined and focused no matter what obstacle life may throw at them. Life is hard, but; resilience is key in order to stay determined and focused in the worst of times.

I am a runner. One who strives for greatness at every moment and doesn’t give in when things get tough. I have aspirations, dreams, and goals which I will stop at nothing to achieve. Unfortunately for me, the life of a runner is filled with challenges and setbacks and only the best will learn to push through the adversity. My defining moment was the summer before my Junior year, 2016. I had set the goal of becoming All-State in Cross Country, meaning placing in the top 25 of all the runners in the state meet. This is, of course, a prestigious title to have, but I had faith in myself. For the first time in my life, I finally understood that preparation is key and if I fail to prepare, I should prepare to fail

“We realized that the only persons we can trust in this world is each other and our families” (Marion Jones). The trait that I will be connecting to is grit. Grit means firmness of mind or spirit. It is a noun. It can also mean unyielding courage in the face or hardship or danger. Some synonyms of the word grit are backbone, fortitude, and constancy. An antonym of the word grit is spinelessness. Grit is an important word because all the people in the pieces of literature had to be firm in their mind and spirit to keep moving forward. They had to be able to want to keep going and not give up on what they wanted. They had to get through the hard times by being grit to get to the good things. There are real world examples of grit. Like

I have taken this same perspective and applied it to Cross Country running. While running is a competition

I kept running through pain and the second mile approached. The runner inside of me began to lose form and fatigue started to kick in. The sounds of the crackling spikes against the payment was intimidating. I, however was not going to back down this late in the race. As we passed the grassy, flat path my mind started to drift away from the race, the screaming fans, and everything in the race. I started to ask myself is this pain worth it in the end. I went back to the beginning of my training when I remember debating whether or not I was cut out for this line of brutal training and dedication. Everyday this repeatedly played in my mind. I was full of mixed emotions. On one hand, I wanted to be part of the team and form friendships with teammates. Or on the other hand, I would like to relax and concentrate on my studies and my studies. I needed the energy of excitement from the fans to rejuvenate my mindset. I wanted to feel that intense feeling of finishing the

To complete a task as incredible as finishing a marathon, a person’s motivation has to be strong. Inspiration must strike a person throughout their whole journey. For Connor Reynolds, a current junior at Grand Valley State University (GVSU), he wanted to run a race that would test his limits, but his real inspiration came from his friend who had previously completed one. Every runner has a different motivation which drives them to participate

I had been running for nearly two hours with fifty thousand others by my side. Finally the end was in sight. With an awkward stride courtesy of legs that felt like lead and embarrassingly heavy breathing, I crossed the finish line of my first half marathon, conquering 13.1 miles, the goal I had set two years prior. Growing up, I was always fascinated by what my body was capable of. Having participated in sports for my entire life, I was constantly pushing myself in measures of strength and stamina, looking to outwork those I competed against.

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary gives many different definitions defining the word “grit”. A definition that caught my attention was “unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger” .It gave me a personal reference as to reaching a goal, you have to be faced with challenges that you’ll need to conquer with grit being included. In Angela Lee Duckworth’s TED Talk, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” she claims that having students being pushed to the max is the only way to see the full extent of grit, and I agree with Duckworth. I was able to demonstrate grit on becoming a better basketball play after not making the team my sophomore year of high school. Ever since I was disappointed in my results of not making the team, I had told myself this wasn’t going to mean I was done playing basketball .I gave myself perseverance in knowing I could make it next year with motivation.

Before I came to the United States and got freedom, I was accused, prisoned, tortured, and suffered by the Ethiopian government in Addis Ababa Ethiopia because of my older brother, Jilalu, political activities. I was sixteen years old when Jilalu was a member of Ethiopian’s government opposition party, Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD). According to TED Talk “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” Angela Lee Duckworth illustrates that grit is the key for success. When Duckworth was a teacher for several years, she found out that grittier students are most likely to achieve their goal. Moreover, after Duckworth became a psychologist, she studied children and adults how they focus and became a successful person in every aspects

In the article Grit: Perseverance and Passion for Long-term Goals, by authors Angela L. Duckworth university of Pennsylvania, Christopher Peterson university of Michigan, Michael D. Matthews and Dennis R. Kelly United States military academy, west point, authors asked “ why do some individuals accomplish more than others of equal intelligence”. A question that has started and drove this research, authors’ hypothesis that “one personal quality is shared by the most prominent leaders in every field: Grit”. Suggesting that grit defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals, is one of the most important traits shared by most accomplished individuals, therefor, conducting a research to measure and determine the effects it has on a wide range of different individuals.

LeDonne has given many pep talks in his days of coaching, so he knows exactly what to say to get his teams excited and ready to run. As I listen to him, I knot the shoelaces on my new spikes and glance at my friends who will be running with me. I try to seem as excited as I can, given that I will soon be running a big race. I can tell by the looks that my friends shoot back at me that they are thinking “I don’t want to do this, it’s gonna be the worst” and “I can’t wait for this to be over.” But I force myself to think of the positives: “Once this race is over, I won’t have any more big races this season. Plus, I’ll feel really good afterwards. Who knows, maybe this race I’ll finally improve.” But at the same time, I am still thinking all the same negative thoughts as my friends. Even so, I decide that I should push hard this race. Maybe I can finally lower my time.

Grit is the power of passion and perseverance. Passion and perseverance are not qualities that everybody has. Not everybody who sets a long-term goal achieves it. People who have passion and perseverance are most likely to succeed in life, because passion is what gives us the ability to stick to a goal for a long period of time, and perseverance is the motivation to continue pursuing our goals. Passion and perseverance are the bridges to achieve your goals. In the TED talk “Grit: the power of passion and perseverance” Angela Duckworth explain what will help you to succeed in life and she called it Grit, which she defined it as passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint.