Getting Grit by Caroline Adams Miller

Values in Action Character Strengths Survey
https://www.viacharacter.org/www/

Grit needs: humility, determination, persistence, self-control, and optimism.

Grit--contagious when we're around people who have grit
         top strengths can be used to pursue goals to maximize our chances of getting good enough that we don't stop
       
Self regulation--new research shows we can cultivate willpower: mindfulness practices, working with virtual avatars

It's easier to learn something new when we watch others do it
Prompts/cues can makes us more disciplines or lax
If/then contracts triple your chances of accomplishing tough goals

Other things that contribute to grit:
--quality of relationship skills
--prevalence of positive emotions in our lives
--storehouse of willpower

Grit Ingredients:

Passion--so that you persist when times are hard

Happiness--we succeed because we were  happy first
     P --positive emotions
     E --engagement
     R --relationships
     M--Meaning
     A --Achievement

     Wise interventions that can increase positive well being:
              Use strengths
              Gratitude
              Journaling
              Spirituality (believing that yours is the only right way=more stress/negative emotions, using your faith as a coping tool without judging other spiritual doctrines, is linked to greater well-being)
              Coaching
              Hope
              Exercise
              Altruism
              Meditation--rewires the brain in positive ways, esp loving-kindness meditation

Happiness helps--Happify.com, Greater Good Science Center, (greatergood.berkeley.edu

Goals--

• direct attention (cognitively and behaviorally)
• energize people (difficult goals are more energizing than easy goals)
• impact persistence (esp hard goals because they prolong effort)
• lead to discovery of our skills

Self-efficacy: believing that you have what it takes to accomplish the goals in front of you

• have good stress responses (meditation, exercise, humor, reframing, relatonships)
• have a role model who has accomplished what you want
• have a significant other who has faith in your abilities
• accomplish smaller goals along the way
• listen to inspiring messages

Goal setting:

• Learning goals--don't know information that will be needed to succeed
• Performance goals

       Build in accountability

       Write down goals

Ways to set better goals:

• Makes a bucket list of goals, including those you have already accomplished
• If you feel stuck try the 5 Whys--ask WHY is this happening and drill down until you have 5 whys.  
• Schedule future reminders, or future emails (use futureme.org)
• think about daily goals and how they fit into longer term plans

Encourage risk taking

• Ask Why not instead of Why
• start with small risks
• don't share your goals with negative people

Humility:

•  social humility --honesty, thoughtfulness, maturity, and unselfishess
• intellectual humility--curiosity, willingness to learn from others, openness to new ideas

Procrastination

• don't even let it start
• implementation intentions-- if/then "when I put on my shoes I will leave within 5 min"
• set a timer to only work for a set number of minutes--to get over the hassle of starting
• make it harder to delay
• look into the future and imagine yourself having completed the goal, how will it feel? 

Use good words/mantras/slogans

Act "As if"

Optimize the day: competent and energized at start of day, declining after noon

Alcohol--the #1 deterrent to achieving goals because it reduces barriers to self destructive behaviors

At dinner--list 3 hard things you did that day