Grit: The Number One Skill You Need to Succeed

By Gavin Williams

Updated: July 2025

Grit is the ability to keep going when things get hard. It’s a mix of passion, perseverance, and mental toughness. Research shows it matters more than talent when it comes to long-term success.

In psychology, grit is a key part of personal growth. It helps people stay committed through setbacks, slow progress, or failure. In business, grit shows up when you keep going after rejection, finish the work when you're tired, and stay focused even when results aren’t immediate.

A grit mindset means believing that effort leads to improvement. Instead of giving up when something gets difficult, you stay with it. You focus on progress, not perfection.

If you're building a business, growing your career, or trying to improve yourself, grit is one of the most important traits you can develop. You don’t need to be born with it. You can build it over time. And this blog will show you how.

What Is Grit?

Grit is about not giving up. It means staying focused on your goals, even when things get tough or take a long time.

Psychologist Angela Duckworth, who wrote a book called Grit, says it’s made up of passion and perseverance. That means caring about your goal and working hard at it, day after day.

In psychology, grit is seen as one of the top reasons people succeed. In business, it helps you keep going through stress, rejection, or failure. And in life, grit helps you stay on track when others quit.

Grit vs Talent

We often think successful people were born with talent. We see athletes, business leaders, and artists online and assume they were just “gifted.”

But talent is only part of the story.

Angela Duckworth puts it like this: “Effort counts twice.” Even the most talented people had to work hard to get where they are.

Real success comes from consistent effort over time. That’s grit.

What Is a Grit Mindset?

A grit mindset means believing that you can get better by trying. It’s not about being perfect. It’s about not giving up.

People with grit don’t stop when they fail. They keep learning. They try again. They do the boring work. And they trust that small steps will add up.

This kind of mindset helps in both life and work. Whether you're building a business, training for something big, or learning a new skill, grit helps you keep going and keep growing. Grit is part of a growth mindset.

What Is Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset means believing you can improve with effort.

Grit and growth mindset work well together. When you believe you can get better, you’re more likely to stick with the process.

That’s grit in action.

Both ideas help you handle mistakes and bounce back from failure.

How Does Resilience Affect Mental Health?

Grit and resilience also support your mental health.

Resilience helps you recover from tough times. Grit helps you stay on course during those times.

People with grit are more likely to take small actions that help them feel better. They don’t wait for motivation. They just keep going.

That steady effort can improve confidence and reduce stress over time.

What Does Grit Look Like in Business?

In business, grit is a game-changer.

You need grit to keep showing up when your ideas fail, when sales are slow, or when things don’t go to plan.

If you're building a business, launching something new, or trying to grow your personal brand, grit helps you:

• Stay focused on your goals

• Keep working through rejection or slow progress

• Learn from mistakes without quitting

  
  

Without grit, even the best ideas go nowhere.

Greatness Comes from Repeating the Basics

Think of Muhammad Ali. We remember his speed, power, and confidence. But he started as a beginner. He had to learn the basics just like everyone else.

The same goes for Michael Phelps. He trained for years before winning gold medals.

Every expert started by doing the simple stuff again and again until it became second nature.

If you keep putting in the effort, you get better. That’s how growth works.

Muhammad Ali mural - Photo by Nelson Ndongala

How to Build Grit

You don’t need to be born with grit. You can grow it.

Here’s how:

• Know your goal. What does success mean to you?

• Break it into small steps. Big goals need small actions.

• Stick to a plan. Don’t rely on motivation. Build habits.

• Rest when you need to. Grit isn’t the same as burnout.

• Keep showing up. Even on bad days, do something small.

• Learn and improve. Mistakes help you grow.

  
  

The more you practice grit, the stronger it gets.

 

Final Thoughts

Success doesn’t happen overnight. Talent helps, but grit matters more.

As the philosopher Nietzsche said, great people aren’t always born that way.

They become great by doing small things well, over and over.

You can do that too. You just have to begin.

And then keep going.

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Let’s create messaging that works as hard as you do.

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