Psychologist Reveals The Key To Academic And Professional Success That We Mostly All Ignore

What’s the key to success? It’s not a very easy question to answer. So, how can some people succeed in almost everything they choose to do? Do they hide some secret that most of us are not aware of?

The answer is yes! According to psychologist Angela Lee Duckworth, who for ten years studied the most common factors of academic and professional success, intelligence and talent are not enough for someone to become successful.

In fact, Duckworth claims that the data proved that talent amount to anything. Instead, the most successful students and professionals have one trait that we all ignore:

Grit!

Which means someone's ability to stick with something when it isn't working out. Who would have thought?

You can check Angela Duckworth's brilliant TED Talk below which describes what grit is and how one can increase it in their daily life:

Seeing as grit (the ability to remain motivated and passionate through failures and hiccups) is critical to our success, I'm sure you're wondering about whether you can improve your grit.

The good news is that yes you can!

Here are five ways:

1) Focus on your self-talk

Each time you give your best effort, even if you do not succeed, pat yourself on the back. We'll often speak positively to ourselves for "being intelligent" instead of pushing through.

Nevertheless, this only teaches us to adopt a fixed mindset; the belief that our talents are largely innate and cannot be improved.

It's more productive to praise yourself when you bounce back from failing and push through hard times.

2) Surround yourself with friends who persevere

Surround yourself with positive and optimistic people that can beat the odds. There is no point in surrounding yourself with those who believe that every trait is innate and that only the talent is the predictor of success. Those people are boring and uninspiring.

3) Adopt more flexible thinking patterns

Becoming less rigid in the way you think and act boosts your resilience and grit. Flexible people don't see problems all the time. They see opportunities for growth instead!

4) Set small goals that align with your purpose

Research has discovered that people with a sense of purpose tend to become happier. Nevertheless, your purpose might be abstract and hard to define.

By creating smaller goals that align with your purpose, you will stay motivated and purpose-driven during your day.

5) Make time into your day for reflection.

Give yourself time to think back on your day in a non-judgmental way, so that you can see what you've accomplished and what actions you should take tomorrow to keep moving forward. It'll help you stay clear, motivated and prepared to take on the world!

Reference: The Power Of Ideas