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Welcome, as always it's good to see you.

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In this session, you'll learn
about a characteristic associated

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with self-motivation, and
that's the power of grit.

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New cadets at the US Military Academy,

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West Point go through a staggeringly
tough, physically and

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mentally challenging program
during their first seven weeks.

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This program is called the Beast.

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It's well known that many new
cadets drop out of West Point

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before the end of those harsh seven weeks.

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For years West Point was
unable to pinpoint why.

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They found no patterns
related to high school rank,

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college entrance exam grades for
example, SAT and ACT grades,

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physical fitness, leadership potential
assessments or any other measure

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that would seem to be relevant to whether
a cadet would go the distance or drop out.

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In 2004 along came psychology
doctoral student Angela Duckworth.

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She got permission to give
the cadets a 12 question assessment

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on their second day at West Point.

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She found that the higher the cadets
scored on the simple assessment,

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the more likely they were to
complete the Beast as well.

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The lower they scored,
the more likely they were to drop out.

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The assessment was Duckworth's grit scale.

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She defines grit as passion and
perseverance toward a long-term goal.

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The assessment questions included
statements such as I finish what I begin,

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I am diligent, I never give up.

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And I often choose a goal and
later on choose to pursue a different one.

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She also explored whether
teenagers who performed best

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in the US Scripps National Spelling Bee
competition rated higher on grit,

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and they did.

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Not surprisingly, Duckworth found that
the grittier teenagers spent more

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time studying for the spelling bee and
this paid off in their higher ranking.

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In her research, Duckworth found that
grit did not relate positively to IQ,

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but it was highly correlated
with conscientiousness.

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As with conscientious people, gritty
people are hardworking, self-directed,

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self-motivated, persistent and they're
able to bounce back from setbacks and

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get themselves back on track.

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But here's where grit differs
from conscientiousness.

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Gritty people apply their focus
to a single long-term goal

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that's extremely meaningful to them.

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For example, a person can be
conscientious in their everyday life and

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fulfill their everyday work
responsibilities to a very high standard.

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Yet they may not be focused on
achieving a particular long-term goal

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that's very important to them.

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Gritty people stay focused
on that one important goal,

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keeping their eyes on the prize, it's the
driving force that compels them to work

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even harder to be even more persistent and
to be even more resilient.

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Rejection and being told they can't do
something fuels their determination.

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Steven Spielberg was rejected
from film school three times.

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Oprah was told she was unfit for TV and
Beyonce was told she couldn't sing.

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Being gritty takes even more stamina for
longer periods of time all

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in the dogged persistence of
achieving a single long-term goal.

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Grit is like conscientiousness
on steroids.

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Actor Will Smith describes a secret
to his success as an actor this way.

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The only thing that I see that
is distinctly different about me

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is that I'm not afraid
to die on a treadmill.

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You might have more talent than me,
you might be smarter than me.

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You might be sexier than me.

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You might be all of those things.

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But if we get on the treadmill together,

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there's two things, you're getting
off first or I'm going to die.

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It's really that simple.

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US Supreme Court,

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Justice Sonia Sotomayor demonstrated
grittiness ever since she was a child.

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Born in the Bronx New York to a family
from Puerto Rico, she was raised for

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many years by a single mother after her
father died of complications related to

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alcoholism when she was
only nine years old.

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Her mother was an orphan and her father
never completed the third grade.

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Her mother worked hard to save money
to send Sotomayer to Catholic school.

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Sotomayer learned responsibility at
age seven when she was diagnosed with

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type 1 juvenile diabetes and had to
give herself daily insulin shots for

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the rest of her life.

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In her autobiography she said,
I probably learned more self-discipline

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from living with diabetes than I ever
did from The Sisters of Charity.

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She decided that she wanted to become
an attorney after watching the TV show

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Perry Mason, in which actor Raymond Burr
played a prosecutor with a flair for

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public speaking and for winning cases.

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She was fascinated with the way Mason
eloquently presented his cases and

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serve the law.

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Sotomayor did not have the resources
at home to help her pursue her dream of

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becoming an attorney, but
she had the grit to figure it out.

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Inspired by the fictional Perry Mason,

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she practiced public
speaking whenever she could.

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Which she was ready to become the first
person in her family to attend college.

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Her friend Kenny from her
high school debate team

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encouraged her to get admitted
to an Ivy League College.

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He gave her the names of colleges, and

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then he helped her adjust to life at
Princeton and then Yale Law School.

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She relied heavily on students with
more experience to help her develop

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the confidence and political skills
to not only survive but thrive.

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Today Sotomayer is quick to advise people
to remember that no one succeeds alone.

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She expresses pride that she was
one of the early beneficiaries

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of affirmative action and she worked
hard to live up to expectations.

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She was awarded the Pine Prize,

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the highest academic award given
to Princeton undergraduates.

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And she was an editor for
the prestigious Yale Law Journal.

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She bounced back after not being offered
a job after school summer internship

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with the prestigious Law Firm.

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Reflecting on that early failure,
Sotomayor said I would do what I had

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always done, break the challenge
down into smaller challenges,

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which I would get on with
in my methodical fashion.

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Now Duckworth notes that grit is like
living life as a marathon not as a sprint.

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And she is convinced
that grit can be learned.

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She works with school systems to help
them develop grit in children so

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that they can have better
opportunities for a good life.

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Today Duckworth likes to show her
doctoral students the letters

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that she receives from academic
journals rejecting her articles.

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Because she wants to build a resilience
by showing them that struggles and

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failures are normal if not desirable
part of an academics life.

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What can you do to increase your grit?

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Like a muscle, grit can be
developed through focused practice.

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Angela Duckworth describes self-made
businessman Warren Buffett's strategy for

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identifying your most important goal.

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The one that most deserves grit.

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First, list up to 25 goals.

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Second, circle the five that
are the highest priority.

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Those that are most aligned with
what's most important to you in life.

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Third, look at the goals that you did
in circle and don't pay much time and

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energy toward those goals.

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Because they'll distract
you from your top goals.

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Buffett says it more starkly, avoid
the goals on the second list at all costs.

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Deciding what you're not going to do is as
important as deciding what you will do.

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Then make a plan for
achieving your top five or fewer goals.

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Then Duckworth adds another step.

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She recommends that you ask yourself
to what extent do my top five goals

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serve a common purpose?

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By aligning your goals,
the effort you put into

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one of your top goals is likely to
benefit your other goals as well.

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Warren Buffett is known to be
clear about his priorities.

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Despite his wealth,
he's worth over 60 billion,

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Buffett lives frugally in
the house he bought in 1958 for

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$31,000, which today
would be around $260,000.

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He has pledged to donate 99% of his
wealth to charitable causes when he dies.

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With most of it going to the Bill and
Melinda Gates Foundation, which is

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dedicated to lifting people out of
poverty to lead healthy productive lives.

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Before we end this session,

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it's worth noting that being
overly gritty carry some risks.

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Sometimes it's healthier to quit,

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particularly when the goal is
unachievable or if the situation has

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changed to one in which the goal is
no longer worth the effort required.

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Researchers have found that people
are able to let go of goals that are for

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some reason unattainable.

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C-reactive protein.

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And that's a molecule that's associated
with health issues related to

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inflammation than people who continue
to pursue an unattainable goal.

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In another study,

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researchers found that people who are able
to detach from unattainable goals and

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invest in new attainable goals
reported higher subjective well-being

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otherwise known as happiness,
lower stress and higher self mastery.

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Which the researchers defined
as a belief that one has control

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over what happens in their future.

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Another risk of excess grit that you can
become so invested in achieving your

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goal that you lose interest in
other important parts of your life.

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For example, your health and
relationships.

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As researcher Walter Mischel, the creator
of the original marshmallow experience

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says, a life with too
much self-control and

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delayed gratification can be as
unfulfilling as one with too little.

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So now you know how grit can help you
achieve your goals, what steps you can

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take to increase your own grit, and
what risks are associated with grit.

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And I must say that you've shown quite a
bit of grit by staying with this course so

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far because it can be easy to get
sidetracked with everyday distractions.

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So it looks like you already have
some of the grit it takes to succeed.

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Thanks for taking the time to
learn about the power of grit, and

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I hope you found this session
to be useful and enjoyable.