Can you see the finish line? Runners tell me when the end is in sight things get easier.
I don’t know if that is true. Let me mix all my metaphors now. I know when you are in for the long haul, you can get bogged down and feel in the dumps, and can hardly see an end to your troubles and workload, and then stress can take its toll.
Alas…. I know as we move to the end of this first semester it gets tough before the end, but you all can do it. You know “it is darkest before the dawn” and all that. It gets better, but it is true you have to dig deep when the going gets tough and get yourself going. Now that I have used all my “go get ‘em” mottos, I do want to say that we all hit bumps in the road and sometimes we have to slow down, maybe change a tire, take a rest, breathe deep, lift a heavy load and start up again.
This is when to use what some call grit. Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals”. It is just the will to move on, keep going, and work harder. Life’s successes are often built on deliberate practice (like studying). Note a paper called “Deliberate Practice Spells Success: Why Grittier Competitors Triumph at the National Spelling Bee”; the research here in the journal of Social Psychological and Personality Science, was led by Angela Duckworth. The psychologists were interested in the set of traits that allowed kids to practice deliberately. This paper suggests our most important asset is having the tenacity to work hard, to practice and study even when it isn’t fun. It’s about putting in the hours rather than watching TV, or playing ball. Success is never easy. That’s why you need to call on your grit. Grit even trumps intelligence in some cases.
Grit, motivation, personal vigor, perseverance, and resilience will all be called into play as you finish this first semester. After all the long hours and hard work you will look back and be satisfied that you have met your first college goals. So go get your grit on!

Tags: college life, FYE, grit, the finish line

This entry was posted on Thursday, October 25th, 2012 at 12:40 pm and is filed under Uncategorized.
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