It’s not easy committing yourself to an educational program, earning your diploma or degree, getting a job in your desired field, and starting a whole new career path.
Especially when you’re dealing with the everyday pressure of life such as running a household or working a full-time job, or both.
That’s why it takes GRIT (Growth - Resilience - Instinct - Tenacity) to go after your educational and career goals. American Career College helps prepare students for the job market and workforce by teaching them how to implement GRIT through “ACC Ready” training.
What Is GRIT? – The Short Answer
The Cambridge Dictionary’s definition of grit is “courage and determination despite difficulty.” However, Dr. Paul G. Stoltz, the social scientist and author who coined the Growth - Resilience - Instinct - Tenacity (GRIT) acronym defines it as: “Your capacity to dig deep and do whatever it takes — even sacrifice, struggle, and suffer — to achieve your most worthy goals in the best ways.”
In a nutshell, GRIT is the concept that if you work hard, you can not only overcome adversity, but you can use it as fuel for success in achieving your long-term goals.
What Is GRIT? – The Full Breakdown
Here’s a breakdown of each of the four elements of GRIT, as defined by Stoltz:
Growth
In the concept of GRIT, growth requires an individual to reach beyond the confines of their current situation by seeking external inputs that could help improve their chances of success. These may be inputs such as ideas, perspectives, and advice from others who have already paved the way in research and experience.
Students can strive for growth by tapping into the resources that are available to them (e.g., instructors, mentors, career counselors, educational guides and materials, etc.) and keeping an open mind to new strategies and solutions for achieving their goals.
Resilience
Have you heard the saying “What doesn’t kill you makes you stronger”? That’s resilience in a nutshell.
In partnership with the Harvard Business School and MIT, Stoltz and his team concluded that resilience is a person’s ability to not only overcome adversity, but to be strengthened and improved by it. Elaborating on that point, Stoltz said: “So, the ultimate quest is to become more ‘Response Able.’ Response Ability is your ability to respond optimally to whatever happens the moment it strikes.”
Rather than get discouraged, students can learn from their challenges and even so-called “failures” to sharpen their skills and better prepare them for future endeavors.
Instinct
Determination and hard work can be counterproductive if it’s channeled toward the wrong goal, or if it’s executed in an unhealthy or unproductive way. To have GRIT, you need to listen to your gut and use common sense in deciding how you will go after your goals.
According to Stoltz, this instinct aspect of GRIT requires you to regularly stop, reassess your situation and your goals, and determine if any changes need to be made.
Tenacity
According to Stoltz, tenacity refers to “the sheer relentlessness with which one pursues one’s most important, long-term, difficult goals.”
In other words, it means creating a goal and then diving head-first into your goal-achieving activities without reservation. As a college student, this may include a combination of activities, including not limited to hitting the books every day, joining a study group, finding a mentor, and making use of instructor office hours.
Tenacity can be a powerful driver of success as long as it is applied to the most effective goal-achieving activities.
How Does ACC Help Students Learn and Practice GRIT?
ACC’s Career Services team recognizes that students have big goals, and as a result, they need a big toolbox to build the futures they want.
That’s why ACC makes a wealth of resources available to help set students up for success in their studies and their career journeys. This includes our ACC Ready professional development workshops and support services, which incorporate the principles of GRIT.
During their time at ACC, students can work toward a badge for each level of GRIT – a “G” badge (for Growth), and an “R” badge (for Resilience), an “I” badge (for Instinct), and a “T” badge (for Tenacity). They get digital badges that they can add to their LinkedIn profiles as well as physical badges that go on their sashes at graduation. Additionally, each student who completes the ACC Ready requirements receives a special cord and an award at graduation.
Not only does receiving these badges help demonstrate a student’s commitment to their personal and professional development, it can also signal to an employer that they’re a go-getter. ACC Ready helps provide students with transferable skills that can empower students to achieve their goals.
Additional resources provided by the ACC Career Services team include career planning and counseling, job placement assistance, networking opportunities, and much more. Learn more about what ACC Career Services has to offer.
ACC is committed to helping students succeed!
