Got Grit?
Our Winter 2023 Session will build GRIT - both on and off the playing field.
Resilience. Perseverance. Passion. GRIT.
We’ve all heard the buzz words - the traits we should be instilling in our kids to raise them to be successful humans. You’re not alone in thinking, “is my kid tough enough for this world?”
Surprisingly, research shows that success is not based on intelligence or talent. Angela Duckworth, the world’s leading researcher and expert on grit, found that high achievers have grit, or persistence in difficult situations. The great news is that grit is a learned skill that can be built with practice in nurturing environments.
“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.”
- Angela Duckworth, author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
When the going gets tough, gritty kids keep going.
Requiring passion and perseverance, grit leads to the successful pursuit of long-term achievement. Grit is a combination of learned skills that, in combination with each other, lead to sticking with something that’s hard, you don’t want to do, or don’t think you can do well.
The result: kids who feel strong, proud, and realize that they don’t have to be naturally talented to be good at something and get better at it.
The "Hard Thing Rule"
As parents, coaches, and educators it's important to build our own grit before we can teach it to our kids. We all want what’s best for our children, but we may be putting them at a disadvantage by making life too comfortable.
Duckworth's family lives by the Hard Thing Rule, which has three parts:
Everyone - including Mom and Dad - has to do a hard thing that requires deliberate practice, something that you will get feedback on telling you how to get better, and that you're going to try, try again at.
You can quit. BUT you can’t quit until the season is over, the tuition payment is up, or some other “natural” stopping point has arrived. You must, at least for the interval to which you’ve committed yourself, finish whatever you begin. You can't quit on a bad day, if you lose, or if you "just don't like it."
Finally, the Hard Thing Rule states that you get to pick your hard thing. Nobody picks it for you because, after all, it would make no sense to do a hard thing that you’re not even vaguely interested in.
When kids can deal positively with obstacles, disappointments, and defeat, they learn that failure is not a permanent condition. Finding purpose beyond rewards and success leads children to main ingredient to grit - passion - that fire within that inspires us to keep going.
Run.Jump.LEAD! Winter 2023 Programs
The 10-week Winter Session will build GRIT.
We'll tackle all NEW topics, activities, and leadership skills as we learn how passion and sustained persistence leads to long-term achievement.
In addition to building physical literacy through games, circuits, relays, and learning introductory sport skills in basketball, volleyball, floor hockey, and soccer, here are the leadership themes we'll be tackling next session!
Your inner leader
The power of defeat
Perseverance
Long-term goals
Growth mindset
Little Leaders
Ages 7-9
Leaders in Motion
Ages 9-12
Junior Mentors
Ages 13+
Mom & Me Yoga
Ages 8-12 + Adult
Sources:
Angela Duckworth. (2022). Retrieved from https://angeladuckworth.com/
TEDtalksDirector. (2013, May 9). Grit: The power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth. YouTube. From https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H14bBuluwB8
Biglifejournal.com. (2022, March 30). 9 activities to build grit and resilience in children. Big Life Journal. Retrieved from https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/activities-grit-resilience-children