The value of grit: how to transform your health
Life necessitates that everyone sets health goals. Yet to our
dismay, there are unhealthy and easily accessible leisure and food options
available everywhere. Television is free and fast food is both fast and affordable. So what keeps us from
eating fries on our couch every night in front of the tube? After a certain
age, most bodies start to give the owner some challenges. It is finely tuned
machine that needs more than 5 hours of sleep and 2200 calories a day to
keep it running smoothly. So, with the natural desire to be a donut eating
couch potato; how do we instead decide to get off the couch, take a run, and
eat healthy meals?
Recent
research suggests that one’s level of grit, more than talent or intelligence,
has the final word on success. One famous researcher of grit, Angela Duckworth,
says grit is, “sticking with things over the very long term until you master
them.” According to American Public Media's website about Duckworth's research; talent or
intelligence are not enough to explain success. The website sites Ducksworth's
studies about Ivy League students. Students less intelligent than their peers
compensated “by working harder and with more determination.” In fact, highly
intelligent students had less grit than their intellectually average peers.
Consequently, highly intelligent students actually fared less academically. It
was “the grittiest students -- not the smartest ones -- had the highest GPAs.”
How can this information help us dictate our personal health?
According to this article, genes play a major role in how we
digest food and how much we weigh. Moreover, some genes can transfer diseases,
such as celiacs. But genes are only a part of the equation on what determines
optimal health. For example, if someone with celiac disease has the grit to
maintain a completely gluten-free diet (this is no small feat mind you), they
can live an active, normal, and healthy life. The same goes for many health
conditions. Exercise, eating nourishing food, and being vigilant advocates for
our personal health plays a monumental role on our overall health. But to all
of that, we must have grit.
One unanswered
questions remains: how is grit cultivated? Is there a grit gene? Probably not.
Likely grit is engendered from a the strong desire to achieve a visualized
goal. This goal is developed not from negative thoughts (i.e. “I am so out of
shape! I'm ashamed of my body”) but from positive thoughts and dreams (i.e. “I
cannot wait until I can run a marathon! In a few months I will be wearing these
jeans again!”). The more you can make your goals a source of joy and pride, the
more likely you will have the grit to get you off that couch day after day,
opening a healthy snack (like Kay's Naturals)
and heading to the gym smiling.
So what do you think? Have you got the grit?
