[kelseyfrog]

As someone with a top quintile-level of mental toughness and grit, I should point out that being able to dial it up or down is critical.

A constant state of high mental determination can lead to a breakdown of relationships where mental and emotional endurance means out lasting people such that they simply give up. It's like persistence hunting in all the wrong and horrible ways when turned on people and relationships. So, learning when and when not to apply mental toughness is crucial.

[theothertimcook]

How can this be validated and what is the dataset you're measuringa gaint to conclude top quintile?

[kelseyfrog]

I score a 4.3 on the 12-item scale which puts me right about 80th percentile[1]. How about you?

1. https://www.qu.edu/499a48/globalassets/global/media/qu/photo...

[theothertimcook]

Never done the grit scale, and I'm not convinced it's a relaible measure as a one off, self-assessment scale.

Grit, resilience, mental toughness, growth mindset are all great concepts but they're not really able to be measured in a validated way that produces reliable data.

[kelseyfrog]

What level of intra-rater reliability would convince you?

[theothertimcook]

I honestly don't know, I've been looking at differnt validated tools and measurments for the last 18 months and they're all very fluffy and pop-psychy.

[kelseyfrog]

I appreciate you honesty.

Operationalizing and validating concepts and measures is genuinely difficult. There's always a question of whether the concept itself is real, if the test is really measuring it, and if anything can be learned from precisely measuring it.

Personally, I think this tracks with how reified the concept is in a particular society. No one would think twice at the validity of a gender test, some may question the validity or intelligence tests, and many may question grit tests. The almost instinctual reaction towards tests says more about someone's degree of social internalization than it does about the test, though of course it doesn't feel this way to the person being asked - see reification above.

[sixtram]

>> As someone with a top quintile-level of mental toughness and grit

Do you have any resources or recommendations on how to achieve a high level of mental toughness and grit?

[kelseyfrog]

Reading Angela Duckworth at a young age helped. Whether it's true or not, the placebo effect on grit is amazing. Have a fragile ego that makes the possibility of failure hurt more than the pain of frustration. When you feel like giving up, realize that's like any other emotion and you can choose to act on it or not separate from it existing.

[ralusek]

I wouldn't describe wanting to give up as primarily an emotion to me, but rather a function of available energy, or something akin to pain. I guess pain is maybe technically an emotion, it's certainly not something trivially dismissed on a whim. Anytime I've burned out on something, I just have no energy left and am physically pained by having to keep at it.

[financltravsty]

Put yourself in situations that test your grit. Then learn to adapt to the situation at hand. Rinse and repeat until the mental switch flips in your mind where you realize all dire situations are not really dire, and workable so long as you navigate them with a clear head.

For example, in my youth I was very fearful of becoming destitute. So to assuage that fear I became temporarily destitute: no money, no connections, and nothing to fall back on. Cue awful physical conditions like (attempting) to sleep out in hyperthermic temperatures with endless wind chill (something I've done before as a child), lack of food and water, and lack of resources. It's not bad for a month, but after that the realization will hit you that you are truly and utterly fucked if something goes wrong. Grossly miscalculate your travel from city to city? You now ran out of water, and will have to find some shelter when the night rolls in. All alone in the wilderness, will you make it in time to place with fresh water, or will you die before that happens? Uncertain. But all you can do is keep moving forward and play the hand your dealt. After a while the feelings you encounter aren't so potent, and you learn that all you can do is keep persevering in spite of everything.

A similar example is school sports. If you're an athlete you know what it's like to push yourself through the pain, drudgery, and exhaustion (something that no doubt had helped me in the above). You have a race to finish, so you might as well keep going and give it your all. Same with training: wake up at 4am, travel, practice for 3 hours with little sleep, and repeat for the season.

The trick is to be put into situations that test you and then it's up to you to pass. Once you pass, that grit you built will stay with you forever. It's mental, more than physical (but physical ailments and ill-health will greatly decrease your capacity for grit).

Unfortunately, it takes getting away from the modern coil and routine -- something that's not easily available to adults with responsibilities, careers, bills, and so on. So it's greatly unlikely you'll build grit, unless -- unsurprisingly -- you force yourself into the perilous situation of throwing it all away.