The Power of Grit

As we approach the final weeks of term, our senior students may be feeling extra pressure with mounting assessment deadlines. As parents, we all want our children to succeed at school and it is hard to watch them struggle. It can be tempting to do the work for them, or to find ways to help them take shortcuts, but I encourage you to take a step back and realise the power of grit.

Many recent studies have identified 'grit' as the personal characteristic which is a determining factor of personal success. Psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth has studied this topic for many years, and defines grit as ‘the ability to persevere in pursuing a future goal over a long period of time… Grit has stamina. Grit runs a marathon, not a sprint.’

When we look to the bible, we see grit defined as ‘steadfastness’ or ‘perseverance,’ and we hear many instructions from God on the importance of this characteristic, including in Luke 21:19 which says ‘… be steadfast, immovable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labour is not in vain.’ Jesus Christ demonstrated the ultimate example of grit as He faced the horrific work that lay ahead of Him on the cross, and yet He pushed forward with relentless perseverance toward the goal of salvation, and was finally able to say with relief “It is finished” (John 19:30).

In a society that promotes perfection and impatience, we find grit an increasingly difficult characteristic to teach and develop. Students don’t like to fail, and they certainly don’t want to work hard for a long period of time to reach their goals. Yet those who are encouraged to persevere, despite external challenges and internal weariness, will experience the satisfaction of completing the task set before them. They will endure failure and learn from it. They will realise that reaching the end goal is worth the sacrifice. These important life lessons will prepare them for a bright future beyond Hillcrest that will inevitably be full of challenges and hard work, but with the grit they need to succeed.

As Max Lucado wrote “God never said the journey would be easy, but He did say the arrival would be worthwhile.”