Last night I stayed up late to watch my New England Patriots lose to the Buffalo Bills. Wait, that’s not right. Saying they “lost” is not accurate. They got trounced, right from the beginning.
In sports, it’s painful to lose a game like that. At the same time, though, for most of the players there will be another season, another game, another play… another opportunity - and they need to be ready for it.
All of us face setbacks, every single one of us. Some of us more than others, sure, but the bottom line is everyone faces a situation where things didn’t go right, or they wish they could do it differently, or they straight up fail. Successful people are those that demonstrate resilience. They can pick themselves up, dust themselves off (or, as Jay-Z would put it, brush your shoulders off), and keep going.
When I counsel students, I can often predict how successful students are going to be in the future based on how well they face adversity in the present. Some people are better at demonstrating grit and toughness than others, and it typically leads to more success in the future.
One of my favorite books on this topic is “Grit” by Angela Duckworth. She defines grit as having passion and persistence for very long-term goals. In 2013 she gave an excellent TED talk about grit, and here is a quick clip from it:
So, how “gritty” are you? How much resilience do you possess? Are you able to overcome setbacks? If so, your future is bright no matter how many setbacks you get (and sometimes in life, you can get a lot…).