One Trait Predicts Success - have you got it?

“I first got interested in grit after watching how my friends fared after college,” Duckworth says. She noticed that the most successful people in her Harvard class chose a goal and stuck with it, while others just flitted from pursuit to pursuit. “Those who were less successful were often just as smart and talented,” Duckworth notes, “but they were constantly changing plans and trying something new. They never stuck with anything long enough to get really good at it.”

SHOOT: Very true. Which is exactly why one should try to live your passion. If you do chances are you'll stick to it for the love of it [rather than the heck of it]. And build up a portfolio or a repertoire or a track record or whatever it is people will refer to in order to know you as a master of your craft.

clipped from www.careerealism.com Okay, so you weren’t the brightest bulb in school. Perhaps, you spent more time partying then you did in the library? Well, good news!  A new study pioneered in part by a psychologist at the University of Pennsylvania, Angela Duckworth, says one trait is a better predictor of success than intelligence. So, what could possibly be more important than genius? Well, this trait also begins with a “g” but it represents resilience, stamina, persistence, determination, perseverance and conscientiousness. Yep, when it comes to predicting who is going to succeed, you gotta ask yourself one question: “Got GRIT?” The study shows people who focus on a goal and stick with it long-term seem to achieve more professional success than those who jump around . Duckworth explains this in a recent Boston Globe article as follows: “Grit is very much about the big picture,” …“It’s about picking a specific goal off in the distant future and not swerving from it.”