In research, grit has been found to be predictive of success in a variety of domains.

But grit is more than blind persistence, even as it's often understood that way.

Passion is an essential part of the grit equation.

Self-reflection exercises can help you identify the goals that you're truly passionate about.

I once worked with a young creative woman (let’s call her Jenny) who dreamt of being an author. She reasoned that romance novels were very popular and if she focused on that genre, she could become an established name.

Never mind that she did not like romance novels. She thought most of them were filled with clichés, predictable, and boring. But in her mind, romance was a path to getting noticed as an author.

So Jenny made a plan. She would write 1,000 words a day. She did that for two years—and hated every minute of it. Eventually, she became resentful of the grind and disparaging of herself.

I asked her what sort of writing she did enjoy. "I’m a science nerd” she responded, suddenly smiling. “I like writing about science, you know, untangling complicated ideas so they become clear. It’s like trying to fit together like some weird puzzle."

With this in mind, I asked her to do an experiment. She was a self-professed "science nerd" so I thought this would appeal to her. “Spend 30 minutes a day writing about some science topic that you find of special interest. Do that for three months and let’s see what happens.”

Jenny looked skeptical but agreed to give it a try.

During our weekly meetings that followed, she talked animatedly about her progress. Ideas for new articles were "gushering up," she excitedly told me, and three months later she published her first article in a popular science magazine.

Grit Gone Wrong: Common Misconceptions About Grit

It’s widely believed that the road to success requires you to just “keep grinding.” In popular culture, this is often referred to as having "grit," a concept brought into popular awareness by Angela Duckworth’s research (Duckworth........

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