6B: Recurring ideas???

Do you have a plan to reach success? Are you determined to tackle anything that gets in your path? Will you put in the work and fight till the end?

One of the articles that were assigned this week was “Angela Duckworth and the Research on ‘grit’ ”by Emily Hanford. It informs the reader that grit means dedicating yourself to and working at something until you have fully accomplished it. “There are smart people who aren't high achievers, and there are people who achieve a lot without having the highest test scores” This stresses the idea that it isn’t just talent that gets people places but that desire and persistence does too. Carol Dweck would associate this with mindset and how people with growth mindsets even if not very intelligent will take on challenges to their best beside the point that it’ll be difficult. In return this can also relate to Brené Brown’s piece on vulnerability because it shows that by taking risks and challenges you allow opportunity for growth, change and advancement.

In Duckworth’s speech she advises us to pick something and stick with it or else we’ll become like a “pretty shiny boat that goes fast nowhere”. This ties back into “The Indispensable Importance of Setting Goals in College” by Dennis Congos, which explains that by setting goals you’ll have something to aim towards and help avoid the feeling of doing meaningless tasks. “If you have no goals, you are apt to feel like you aren't getting anywhere in college, and you are definitely not in control of your life's direction.” .It is important for us to have goals so we can give our work a purpose and measure our progress. If we meet obstacles or make mistakes on the way we must continue on and learn from them, as Dr. Brian Goldman mentioned in his talk “most of the greatest successes in medicine come from failure’’. We shouldn’t let are weaknesses get the best of us instead we should be aware of them and try our best to overcome them without ever giving up.

 
This week’s readings gave insight on some important concepts involved in achieving success not only for us as college students but also for the long term of our lives. As we continue to read new material each week certain ideas seem to start overlapping and becoming more related with each other. This goes along with the fact that there is not just one definite aspect to being successful but several different ones that combine together in making the chances greater. We must set our goals, work hard, face challenges, and keep pushing forward until we reach them only then will everything pay off (delayed gratification).