The secrets of success

Kongbrailatpam Rajeshwar Sharma *

After seeing the fanfare of marriages in Imphal this year, I wonder whether it is a show of success or just a cultural ritual. Perhaps it is one of the respites that punctuate the incidents of violence. Despite violence and gloom of uncertainty in Manipur, Imphal valley comes alive with the sounds of drums and music of marriages that rend the air.

It appears that every Manipuri has joined hands to welcome the marriage season by keeping aside the wails and woes of the victims of the violence that has haunted the State for more than two years. Everyone seems to be in a festive mood.

Dressed in the latest fashions, both men and women, old and young, come out to attend the marriages in their latest cars and SUVs. Although they are part and parcel of modern Manipuri culture, the gorgeous marriages and the cavalcade of cars are nothing but Vanity Fair.

In the midst of these “sound and fury”, there are people who toil and sweat to become successful in life – be it in sports, education, business, arts or film. Everyone likes to be successful and be in the limelight.

But the question is what really success is and how to achieve it. There might be different opinions. Success, in the ordinary sense, is achieving what one wants to achieve in life. The goal may be to become a doctor, engineer, IAS officer, millionaire or businessman and even a Minister.

As success is measured by the amount of money, titles, prizes and power in the materialistic world, be it a layman or professional or student, every Tom, Dick and Harry has a burning desire to join the rat race to become rich, famous and perhaps powerful. It is the driving force that makes a person set a target or goal to achieve in life. But there is something more than the driving force or motive.

Some people succeed in achieving their goal but some people fail to do so. One may wonder why some people succeed and others fail to achieve what they want. Psychologists the world over have been trying to solve this puzzle.

The answer to this question can be found in the book called Grit written by Angela Duckworth who, in her book, writes, “The highly accomplished were paragons of perseverance.” Grit is the result of her research on success. It destroys the misconceptions about talent. In the absence of passion and perseverance, talent cannot shine. But passion and perseverance can make a person shine.

Long before she became a psychologist, Angela was a Math teacher at Lowell High School in San Francisco, where she found a student who was “just so hungry to learn”.

The student, David Luong, was not blessed with the Mathematical talent but he could earn a PhD in Mechanical Engineering from UCLA, for he had passion for Mathematics and he persevered to achieve his goal – in other words he had grit. Now he works as an Engineer at Aerospace Corpo- ration where he uses Math to improve efficiency of engines.

Besides being New York Times bestseller, Grit is said to be popular among parents, teachers, sportsmen, businessmen, military etc. as much as it is among students. Not only is Grit “The new self-help mantra”, but it is also a handbook of success. All the ingredients of success – interest, practice, purpose and hope – are lucidly explained in the book.

People from all walks of life approached Angela Duckworth and asked her at least once a day how one could instill grit in people whom they cared for. “Sometimes it’s a coach; sometimes it’s an entrepreneur or a CEO. Last week, it was a fourth-grade teacher, and the week before, a Math Professor at a community college. I’ve had army generals and navy admirals toss me this question, too, but most often it’s a mother or father who worries that their child isn’t close to their potential.” says Angela Duckworth. Grit is for all who want to be successful and high achievers.

The book was first published in the United Kingdom by Vermilion in 2016. Its author, Angela Duckworth, is a “pioneering psychologist” who will take you “on an eye-opening journey to discover the true qualities that lead to outstanding achievement.” Angela Duckworth is also a MacArthur Fellow and Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania.

She has advised the White House, the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams and Fortune 500 CEOs. Angela Duckworth went to Harvard where she completed her BA in Neurobiology. She did her Msc in Neuroscience at Oxford, and completed her PhD in Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, USA. Grit will put you on the high pedestal of success provided that you have grit.

To find out why some people succeed and other people fail, Angela Duckworth began her research on this intriguing question with the admission process of the United States Military Academy at West Point New York, which requires not only top scores on the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) and outstanding high school grades but it also requires a nomination from a member of the Congress.

Out of more than 14, 000 applicants every year only 1,200 are admitted. The question is how many of them will get through the rigorous seven-week training program which is named as Beast Barracks or Beast at the military academy at West Point. It is said that a substantial number of cadets drop out every year during the rigorous training at the Beast Barracks.

In July 2004, Angela found that out of 1,218 cadets, seventy-one cadets had dropped out by the last day of their training at the Beast Barracks. This made her wonder what made those successful cadets get through the Beast. Her research that began as a young psychologist in 2005 had enabled her to answer the intriguing question. The cadets who got through the Beast Barracks had grit.

Angela Duckworth writes, “In a word, they had grit.” Here one may ask what grit is. According to Angela Duckworth, grit is the combination of passion and perseverance. One should have the highest degree of unwavering interest in what one wants to achieve and it should be translated into action with consistency and countless practice.

In other words he or she should have passion and perseverance. It is like the fuel that makes an engine run. Without passion with a clear goal and perseverance, nothing can be achieved no matter how talented a person is. She writes, “..what we eventually accomplish may depend more on our passion and perseverance than on our in-nate talent.” In other words grit matters more than talent.

Besides the cadets at the Beast Barracks, she made a study of the kids who took part in the spelling competition. After studying the Scripps National Spelling Bee (Spelling competition in the United States), Angela did find that “grittier kids went further in competition…….By studying many more hours and, also, by competing in more spelling bees.”

Not only kids but gritty adults too can be paragons of success. She also found that adults who were grittier were more likely to study further to earn higher degrees. “Adults who’d earned an MBA, PhD, MD, JD, or another graduate degree were grittier than those who’d only graduated from four-year colleges” writes Angela Duckworth in her book Grit.

As early as 1869 psychologists started won- dering why some people succeeded and others failed. Francis Galton, a cousin of Charles Darwin, published a scientific study “on the origins of high achievement.” He made a list of high achievers in Science, Athletics, Music, Poetry and Law, and found in them “unusual ‘ability’ in combination with exceptional ‘zeal’ and ‘the capacity for hard labor.’

In his letter to Galton, Charles Darwin reaffirmed the finding. He also believed that “zeal and hard work are ultimately more important than intellectual ability” In short no- thing can be achieved unless one follows one’s passion; unless one perseveres; and if one does not give up. Talent without efforts leads to nothing, but unwavering interest with constant efforts leads to success.