Today a book recommendation and another Emotional Equation (see my first article on the idea of Emotional Equations, as coined by Chip Conley), “Grit” by Angela Duckworth.
My Emotional Equation derived from this is :
Grit = Passion x Perseverance
I also just watched the new Gary Oldman film about Winston Churchill, “Darkest Hour” and am reminded of the Churchill quote :
“Success consists of going from failure to failure without loss of enthusiasm.”
In “Darkest Hour”, the movie focusses on the darkest hour for Great Britain when it really looked like they would succumb to the Nazi menace. At a pivotal moment, Churchill showed “Grit”.
The point in the book “Grit” is that it is vital to have passion, but without the ability to persevere, you don’t have Grit and will only succeed to a certain level.
One person focussed on in the book is the great Katie Ledecky.
I considered Katie Ledecky the “GOAT” (Greatest of all Time) and featured her in depth in this blog.
A quote from her coach featured in the book :
“Her strength is not in any physical attribute. It’s not even in any particular technique. It’s her overwhelming desire to do what she needs to do to get better.”
It is fashionable to talk about having passion and purpose. Both are vital, and so is the willingness to persevere.
How much “Grit” do we each have?