Chapter 11: Perseverance and reflecting on your journey

Like resilience, having perseverance can help you continually strive towards a goal. The subtle difference between the terms is found in the notions of ‘continuous effort’ (perseverance) and ‘recovering from setbacks’ (resilience). The concept of ‘GRIT’ arguably offers the most comprehensive look at how perseverance can be developed. Additionally, persevering toward a long-term goal necessitates knowing when to ask for help and reflecting on your journey often to celebrate and better understand the challenges you have faced.

11.1 Developing GRIT

In the world of university, it is crucial to muster a continued effort towards your goals. As you progress through your studies, you will find that the assessments are longer, more intricate, and require more sustained effort and focus. This is where perseverance or ‘GRIT’ becomes an important skill to cultivate.

Angela Duckworth, a psychologist and researcher of perseverance, is interested in answering the question, ‘who is successful and why?’, leading her to develop the concept of GRIT, or, the sustained effort toward a lifelong goal with passion (Duckworth, 2016). Additionally, GRIT has a non-cognitive trait, meaning it is not based on inherent intelligence or talent but is rather malleable and not correlated with talent or IQ. The idea of GRIT has been influential, debunking the notion that talent is more important than effort. Duckworth found that where talent counts once, effort counts twice, and she expresses this concept using a mathematical formula:

Talent x Effort = Skill

Skill x Effort = Achievement

These formulas illustrate how sustained effort leads to the achievement of goals and how relying solely on talent does not create sustained perseverance (Duckworth, 2016). Duckworth made this discovery by interviewing spelling bee champions, members of the military, and high-ranking corporate leaders to determine what predicted their success. Fortunately, Duckworth’s (2016) research examines four ways that you can grow your ‘grittiness’.

Develop a fascination. Surrounding yourself with the intricacies of the topic you want to become gritty about can help you develop a fascination. While the content you are learning might not immediately inspire a fascination, you could focus on understanding yourself as a learner. Discussing your progress, reading relevant articles, and adjusting your social media feed can all help. Keeping questions in the back of your mind is a great way to nurture fascination and grow your GRIT.

Make daily improvements. Competing with others is unhelpful and can cause discouragement. However, competing with yourself is a great way to grow GRIT. Measuring your progress and striving to improve on the person you were yesterday can be done with practical measurements such as time spent studying, clarity of written work, or pages read. Aiming for daily improvements can help cultivate perseverance and move you away from peer competition.

Focussing on a greater purpose. When analysing what drives GRIT, pleasure or purpose, Duckworth (2016) found that purpose is far more powerful. Keeping your overall goal in mind and adjusting your focus towards it helps develop and maintain your GRIT. Rather than saying, “I am writing an assessment” you could say, “I am enhancing my ability to become a caring and observant teacher”. This mindset can apply to any action you undertake at university, helping you keep your goals at the forefront of your thinking.

Develop a growth mindset. The value of the growth mindset is discussed in Chapter 2 of this textbook, but the concept of challenging unhelpful thoughts and focussing on the effort and process of learning is an essential aspect of developing GRIT. A growth mindset directly enhances GRIT by fostering resilience in the face of challenges. Adopting a growth mindset can make you more likely to persist through setbacks, seeing the opportunities for growth.

In an interview, Duckworth mentioned additional important elements concerning the development of GRIT. She explained that people with GRIT are not just hardworking and resilient, they truly love and are passionate about what they are doing (Duckworth, 2023). Additionally, gritty people rely on those around them to make sense of their interests and personal development (Duckworth 2023).

By working to build your GRIT in these four ways, you will improve your perseverance when your studies become challenging or require sustained effort. Remember that your effort, fascination, and focus on a greater purpose are allies in your journey through university.

11.2 The importance of reflecting on your journey

The value of reflection cannot be understated. Reflection is often used to inform important life decisions and make sense of our world. Given that you are likely reading this section towards the end of your first semester of university study, take the time to focus on the achievements you have made over this time. These achievements could include the following:

• Completed all assessment tasks.
• Wrote a longer essay of over 1500 words.
• Improved research skills.
• Read more articles than in the past.
• Improved reading and writing skills.
• Learned how to reference and cite.
• Improved self-discipline.
• Improved time management.
• Learned about yourself as a learner.
• Understand the importance of self-care.
• Developed resilience strategies.
• Sustained perseverance over time.
• Adjusted to a different life ‘rhythm’, with a better balance between home, work, and study.
• Formed meaningful connections with your peers.
• Joined university clubs or societies.
• Learned how to work well in a group work situation.
• Refined your long-term goals.
• Learned how to reflect and think critically.
• Overcame challenges such as coursework, difficult topics, or navigating online systems.
• Managed a sustainable budget.
• Improved confidence.
• Improved self-compassion.
• Worked as part of a group.
• Developed an ability to discuss ideas in a group setting.

This is not a definitive list, but it highlights the variety of achievements you may have enjoyed in your first semester. Reflecting on how you have changed can also be insightful; perhaps you have developed more empathy, questioned some of your values, or simply altered your social media feed. These achievements and changes in thinking are common for new university students. It is important to pause, reflect, and celebrate not only the assessments you have completed but also the personal growth you have experienced.

11.3 Seeking individual supports

An important strategy of perseverance is surrounding yourself with appropriate supports. Unfortunately, many students hesitate to seek help, which prevents them from taking advantage of the support systems and various organisations universities have to offer.

While seeking support from family and community is important, finding specific help that aligns to your individual needs is even more crucial. Universities are known for their variety of clubs and groups that you can join and actively participate in. While it is important to contact the university’s access or disability services to discuss adjustments that suit you, student-led groups provide a vital sense of belonging, especially for minority students.

Although universities aim to recognise and accommodate students of minority groups, there is still a lot to be done to address the ‘widening participation’ or diversity of the student body. Many lecturers are experts in their fields but not necessarily in teaching. It could be argued that lecturers need to spend more time to understand how to cater for the diversity of their student cohort. However, several factors such as workloads and research expectations make this difficult in the university environment. Engaging with teams, clubs, and spaces that foster a sense of belonging can enrich your university experience and give you a platform to advocate for yourself and others. Generally, you will find notice boards on campus or receive correspondence in your student email account about the clubs and groups that exist. Failing that, you can always contact student services or the student senate or guild to explore your options. Perhaps you would like to represent your peers by joining the student senate or guild? Universities offer many avenues to refine your skills, and some of these are outside of the classroom.

Cultivating perseverance, or GRIT, is a worthy daily pursuit. When combined with what you have learned about resilience, reflection, and help-seeking behaviours, you give yourself the best chance of succeeding at university.

As you travel on this journey, take a moment to appreciate the incredible steps that you have taken. Transitioning through university and embracing the challenge is no small feat. This is a brave step into an unknown transformative journey that requires courage, curiosity, and acknowledging your experiences and emotions. Most of all, it involves the act of re-learning. Not only do you need to re-learn skills such as reading, writing, and communicating, you also need to re-learn how to be kind to yourself while discovering the learner you always were. It is important that you care for yourself. Self-compassion is a powerful tool that grants you the resilience and courage needed to navigate the challenges that lie ahead. Always celebrate your successes, reward yourself for investing time in your future, and be proud of your progress. Trust that, with time and effort, your abilities will continue to grow and that following your passions will provide a sense of accomplishment. You are capable of remarkable things, and these first steps are a testament to that fact.

References

Chan, C. K. Y., & Lee, K. K. W. (2021). Reflection literacy: A multilevel perspective on the challenges of using reflections in higher education through a comprehensive literature review. Educational Research Review, 32, 100376. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.edurev.2020.100376

Duckworth, A. (2023, September 20). Angela Duckworth explains what teachers misunderstand about grit. Education Week. https://www.edweek.org/leadership/opinion-angela-duckworth-explains-what-teachers-misunderstand-about-grit/2023/09

Duckworth, A. (2016). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance. Scribner.

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