WEEK 17- A Gritty Person

Equipment Required
N/A

PERMAH Element
Accomplishment and Relationships


Teachers to read and facilitate the following:

 

Rationale

Grit is about determination, resolve, resilience, discipline, self control, persistence and a willingness to do whatever it takes to achieve important goals. Research leader Angela Duckworth defines grit as the combination of perseverance and passion for the pursuit of long-term goals. Enthusiasm is common but endurance is rare (Duckworth, 2009).  Being gritty is hard work, but it is a key predictor of success (Duckworth, 2016). People who are gritty have the ability to stick with things until they are finished, even in the face of adversity, and they bounce back from failure or disappointment. They also persist when progress is slow, boring, tedious or difficult. Skills that contribute to grit are: delayed gratification, continuous improvement, deliberate practice, goal setting, habit formation and effort and energy management (McKenna, 2015). Grit is an action that leads to learning, improving and thriving.


Description of Personal Wellbeing Practice- A gritty person

There are lots of examples of gritty people- some who are famous and others who might be your friends or in your family. Parents are often very gritty as they keep working and looking after us even when they are exhausted.  Our friends show that they are gritty when they persevere towards a goal- even when it is hard or they have set backs. At age 16, an Australian girl, Jessica Watson, attempted to sail solo and unassisted around the world. A few days before her voyage, during a test run sailing from Brisbane to Sydney, her boat, Ella's Pink Lady, collided with a 63,000-tonne bulk carrier. Watson's boat was dismasted in the collision. Many critics doubted that she could sail solo around the world.  Watson had to bounce back in the face of adversity, learn from her mistake, make changes and continue to pursue her goal. As a result of this display of grit, on May 15, 2010, she became the youngest person ever to complete the 7 month, non-stop, solo circumnavigation.

  1. Reflect on someone in your life, or someone that you know of, that you admire who has shown grit.

  2. Take turns in sharing with a partner about the person you admire for having grit and what you think makes them gritty.



Main message:

“When the going gets tough, the tough get going.” Joseph Kennedy


 

UPP’s Personal Wellbeing Practices

A Personal Wellbeing Practice (PWP) is an evidenced-based positive psychology intervention, applied in school communities or other educational settings. At UPP, we have tried to make these PWP’s simple, concise and relevant for students and their teachers. The six elements for the Personal Wellbeing Practices are: Positive emotion (P); Engagement (E); Relationships (R); Meaning (M); Accomplishment (A); and, Health (H).


We hope that these evidence-based tools of positive psychology will enhance help people to thrive and live their best life, both within and beyond the school gates.  

For more activities like this (and much more), check out THRIVE Online Lesson Modules for Pastoral Care and Wellbeing.

Unleashing Personal Potential