 This video was animated by Ways2Grow. Be sure to check out her channel. She has some great videos about self-development and other topics. When life gives you lemons, make lemonade. This saying is a bit of a contradiction in the sense that dealing with the hardships of life is not as easy as it seems. Dealing with it would be the ideal and the most obvious thing to do. However, do we have the characteristics to deal with unfortunate situations such as being rejected from graduate school, or being dumped by a significant other? And if we don't have the characteristics, is there a way to acquire the traits to overcome difficult challenges to become successful in life? Traditionally, success was believed to only happen to a certain few who were blessed with unique innate characteristics such as one's IQ, social intelligence, or good looks. However, in a study by Duckworth, Peterson, Matthews, and Kelly in 2007, one prominent characteristic was found among most successful leaders across different settings, grit. Grit is defined as perseverance and passion for long-term goals. Grit involves working persistently towards challenges, maintaining effort and interest over years despite failure, adversity, and plateaus in progress. In other words, someone who is gritty approaches every situation as if it was a marathon, that is internal motivation, and has an end goal for the task that he or she has taken on. That is, external motivation. To validate their assumption about the power of grit, Duckworth and her colleagues examined the combination of these two dimensions across four different populations and found some impressive results. In the first study, Grittier's soldiers were more likely to complete an Army Special Operations Forces selection course. In the second study, Grittier's sales employees were more likely to keep their jobs. In the third study, Grittier's students were more likely to graduate from high school. And in the fourth study, Grittier men were more likely to stay married. All research has shortcomings and Duckworth and her colleagues have acknowledged the inherent limitations of their research. Firstly, a self-report questionnaire was used to measure grit, which makes them prone to social desirability bias. Secondly, the wording of the questions of the grit scale can have a huge influence on how the examinees measure grit. For example, each question is focused on identifying the respondents approach to goals, setbacks, and challenges. Though the wording uses present tense verbs, like I am a hard worker, more than likely respondents will reflect over historical moments when they were either hard workers or not hard workers. As such, the questions may reflect the respondents' past perceptions rather than their present beliefs. Lastly, Duckworth and her colleagues underscore that although perseverance and passion may be characteristics that lead to success and achievement, it is quite possible that there are other internal characteristics such as optimism or external factors like mentorship that are associated with success and achievement. Now, how does one become gritty? Duckworth believes that building grit is linked to a growth mindset. Pioneered by Carol Dweck, growth mindset is the idea that the ability to learn is not static. Rather, learning is fluid and can be attained by mostly anyone. More specifically, Dweck claims that individuals with a growth mindset believe that basic abilities are developed by perseverance and hard work. In addition, individuals with a growth mindset persevere through hardships because they understand that failing is a part of learning and is not eternal. As a result, a growth mindset makes learning more enjoyable and builds and fosters resilience. Alternatively, Dweck notes that individuals with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities are carved in stone and cannot be altered or improved, thus creating a constant urgency to prove their worth continuously. Developing a growth mindset may be a difficult transition, but it is not impossible. According to Dweck, the goal is to change from a judge and be judge for a fixed mindset to a learn and help learn growth mindset. Listed are five ideas from Dweck's book, Mindset, to help you develop a growth mindset. One, the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. Two, believing your qualities are carved in stone, the fixed mindset creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. Three, people in a growth mindset don't just seek challenge, they thrive on it. Four, the growth mindset does allow people to love what they're doing and to continue to love it in the face of difficulties. And five, those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best and learning and improving. And this is exactly what we find in the champions. In summary, there are two things you are guaranteed to experience in life, hardships and successes. In some cases, you may have to endure a hardship like cramming for an exam to get to succeed like graduating from college. In other cases, you may succeed like graduating from college and then endure a hardship like not being able to find a job. Whichever the case, it is important to understand that every situation, whether positive or negative, comes to an end. Everyone experience the setbacks and never compare your successes or failures to others. We may not be able to control the situations we face, but what we can control is the mindset that we have as we endure hardships and celebrate successes. Do you consider yourself having a growth mindset or a fixed mindset? Let us know in the comments below. If you enjoyed this video, be sure to hit the like button and don't forget to subscribe. Thanks for watching.