Hope

From Grit by Angela Duckworth:

What is hope? 

One kind of hope is the expectation that tomorrow will be better than today. It's the kind of hope that has us yearning for sunnier weather, or a smoother path ahead. It comes without the burden of responsibility. The onus is on the universe to make things better. 

Grit depends on a on a different kind of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is different from I resolve to make tomorrow better. The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again. 

III. We Grind

I'm using grind as the verb form of grit, a term popularized by psychologist Angela Duckworth. After several years teaching middle school, Duckworth left teaching to study what characteristic most accurately predicted student performance. In a popular Ted talk, she reveals the answer is not social intelligence, good looks, physical health or even IQ; the answer is grit. Duckworth defines grit: "Grit is passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is having stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years, and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint." Here's the full video:

The definition of grind (grit) I've chosen to use is: "working longer without switching objectives;
hard work plus concentration."

For more on grit, there's a great article about Duckworth visiting Pete Carroll and the Seattle Seahawks organization. For even more, check out her book Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance. I have not read it yet, but it comes highly recommended and it's on my list. 

Related to the topic, I came across this line in Eugene Peterson's Run with the Horses: "The mark of a certain kind of genius is the ability and energy to keep returning to the same task relentlessly, imaginatively, curiously, for a lifetime." Peterson made that statement in 1983 about the prophet Jeremiah. Grit may be a newly popularized term, but it's certainly not a new idea.