NickVenturella.com 5-13-22 - How to persevere

How to persevere

May 13, 2022

I’ve been reading the book, Grit, by Angela Duckworth. It’s about her research and findings related to “grit,” or rather, identifying what traits, environments, and experiences can help predict one’s level of perseverance, and ultimately, success in life.

So far she shares that one of the best things parents can do to help cultivate grit in their kids is to encourage them to participate in something fun, but challenging with the guidance of an adult experienced in that activity, and have your child pursue it for more than one year.

The kind of activities can be sports, learning an instrument, coding, drawing, woodworking, whatever. It just has to be something that the individual enjoys, but is also challenging, so they need to practice and work at it to get better. However, because it’s also fun/of interest to them, they will likely maintain motivation to continue.

The experienced adult — teacher, coach, guide, etc. — is necessary to help encourage the child, keep them accountable to doing the work, but also to help them recognize their accomplishments along the way due to their knowledge and experience in the subject matter. This helps the child to stay motivated by seeing their progress.

Sticking with the activity for more than one year helps provide enough time and dedication to the activity to allow noticeable strides of improvement to emerge.

I think this is why so many athletes, artists, musicians, writers, etc. are able to translate their grit skills to, not only their area of expertise, but to other parts of their lives and even to other industries if/when they move in other career directions — grit results in a collection of highly transferable skills that increase one’s likelihood of succeeding in whatever they choose to attempt.

The opportunity to cultivate grit in our kids isn’t always obvious. You don’t have to have your kid signed up for every sport that comes each season. That might do the trick, but only if the child has fun doing the activities while being challenged by them.

I see grit being cultivated in my own kids. Both of my kids are becoming good artists because they enjoy drawing, are challenged by it, and their dad (me) is an experienced artist who can help guide them. My oldest is becoming a master builder in the video game, Minecraft, because he enjoys it and to create the designs in his head in the game is challenging but satisfying to him. My wife has achieved two bachelor’s degrees and a master’s degree despite hurdles that could have held her back…oh, and she’s a published author and great mom.

I personally grew up playing sports, pursuing art and music and now I truly feel all those skills, and especially the skill to persevere when things get challenging, come into play in my day to day life. And, regardless of what others think of me when they look at my life — whether they deem me successful according to their standards or not — I’m grateful, positive, and fulfilled by knowing I'm gritty enough to persevere and succeed by my own standards.Hit reply and share your grit-building experiences.

----------UPDATES:

My new Root Cause Records EP album, “Midwest Heartache,” is now available on all major streaming platforms (Spotify, Amazon Music, Apple Music, etc.).Thank you to those who have purchased the album already. Your monetary contribution helps me afford the ability to keep creating for you!

If interested, and you would like to, you can purchase the accompanying illustrated story and lyric book of "Midwest Heartache," it's available here.

"Midwest Heartache" book image

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The latest upcycled guitar on nickVguitars.com:The Road Warrior guitar----------Upcoming music performances:

The Cider FarmMadison, WI​Sat. May 14, 2022​6 - 8:30pmThe Lone Girl Brewing Co.Waunakee, WI​Sun. June 5, 2022​3 - 5pmSchuster's FarmDeerfield, WI​Fri. July 22, 2022​6 - 8:30pmThe Cider FarmMadison, WI​Sat. July 23, 2022​6 - 8:30pmThe Lone Girl Brewing Co.Waunakee, WI​Sun. August 7, 2022​3 - 5pm

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Stay positive. Stay healthy. Be kind.Sincerely,Nick VenturellaCreative Professional, andco-founder of Eleven Music Career CenterNickVenturella.comnickVmusic.netnickVguitars.comFacebookYouTube