What you need to know about GRIT in 2022

After two years of pandemic and counting, anew year is upon us. A new year of possibility, of opportunity, of HOPE. (More on how to set yourself for success with mindset in Chapter 5 of The Grit Factor!)

What are the ways you want to enter the new year? With this year behind us, reminding us of our common humanity in the midst of everything else that has happened — how can we thoughtfully and purposefully enter this new year?

Here’s something to know as you begin 2022, as most of us have understood from these past years. Grit is important — perhaps the most important determinant of success — but it is not a sustainable operating mode. Do you need grit? Absolutely. But you also need to build the conditions for grit to be accessible.

Among other things, that means ensuring that your work, your focus, your energy is directed toward those things that are most important to you, aligned with your core purpose and core values. If you’ve read The Grit Factor, you know about the 5 WHY’s exercise from Chapter 2 — and two technology leaders told me this fall that going through this exercise literally changed their work lives!

Last fall I led a team at a technology company through a tailored training program focusing on the first sector of Going for Grit at The Grit Institute — we called it Surviving to Thriving. We worked through the 5 WHYs exercise, and continued to interrogate purpose with other exercises as well. Why is this work so important? Because it is not until we do this work that we can be sure how we spend our days is aligned with what matters the most in our lives. Studies are clear that leaders who do this work are more engaged, have greater longevity, and produce better results.

Because different approaches give us different perspectives on purpose and meaning, I thought I’d put together a short list to pull from as we head into the first weekend of the New Year. Let me know what works for you, and see you in 2022!

1. The Grit Institute: The 5 WHYs
2. Debbie Millman: The Ten Tear Plan
3. Tim Ferriss: the Past Year Review
4. O Magazine: The Vision Board
5. NYT: Downsizing New Years Resolutions
6. NPR: How to Make a New Years Resolution

ORDER The Grit Factor HERE

Subscribe to The Grit Factor Podcast. Also, check out The Grit Institute Learning Journeys Pitch

If you enjoyed this article, please support the work at my Patreon link!