The most fundamental premise 365 Grit is the importance of identifying and creating a sense of purpose and meaning in life. In fact, the 4-step build grit process begins with purpose. Without purpose, there is no starting place. Without purpose, there is no meaning in our actions. Without purpose, we cannot identify meaningful targets, and we have no reason to move forward.
In short, without purpose, we lose our sense of power, passion, and meaning in life.
The Core of Grit: Establishing Purpose
The practice of creating purpose in our lives has been a guiding principle taught by spiritual leaders and philosophers for thousands of years. Research scientists often define purpose as a set of goals, informed by a set of values, which provide a sense of direction to an individual’s life. Some researchers focus more on the importance of goal attainment, while other researchers focus on a process of developing personal meaning from life.
The last several decades of contemporary psychological science and neuroscience have established that health, longevity, and wellbeing are positively impacted when individuals have established a sense of purpose in their life.
In addition to the physical and psychological benefits, research suggests that when individuals find purpose in their work, they are more productive and efficient. Some organizations are effective in creating purpose within the workplace where the employee becomes part of creating success, cohesiveness, and culture at work. When individuals and organizations are aligned in their purpose, the workplace culture is enhanced, and productivity is maximized.
The Link Between Purpose, Happiness, and Grit
We believe that cultivating purpose and finding meaning in our actions is essential for genuine authentic happiness. Generating authentic and stable happiness, however, is not the sole motive for establishing purpose in our lives. Happiness is only a byproduct of living with purpose.
In terms of goal attainment, purpose is associated with grit, which is considered a personality trait that fuses perseverance and passion to fuel the attainment of long-term goals. A study published in the Journal of Happiness Studies found that college students who had high levels of grit also reported the highest levels of purpose. The association between grit and purpose is important, because this suggests that individuals who have a sense of purpose in life will display long-term perseverance, and therefore be more likely to achieve their goals. The researchers emphasized that having purpose in life can act as a “catalyst” (p. 266) for future development.
That is, purpose allows for a reason to persevere. Most potently, however, purpose allows individuals to endure in the face of extreme hardships when it is combined with a strong sense of meaningfulness in life.
Enduring Through Challenges
Having a strong sense of purpose, however, must transcend mere goal setting and encompass a quest for meaning beyond the goals themselves. An exemplary figure illustrating the profound influence of discovering meaning in life is Viktor Frankl, who endured unimaginably inhumane conditions in Nazi concentration camps. Despite the brutality of his circumstances, Frankl found purpose in his ordeal, providing him with a compelling reason to live.9
This notion of purpose provides a reason for our existence beyond short-term or even long-term goals. Finding meaning in our vocations (as well as other areas of life) is one of the most important aspects to integrating purpose into our daily lives. Whether our current vocation is raising a family, leading a corporation, working as a barista, or sanitation worker, it is important to find significance and meaning in the work we do.
Based on the collective literature, having a strong sense of purpose facilitates the types of skills and characteristics that are necessary for success. As simple as this might sound, however, connecting with purpose can be difficult. Deriving purpose and meaning in our lives can be challenging in the face of long chore-filled days of monotony and responsibilities. Therefore, it is important to constantly seek out purpose and exert effort to create it in our daily lives.
Practical Implications: Infusing Purpose into Everyday Life
No matter how passionate you are about your job, family, or hobbies, there are some obligations that you may feel less than enthusiastic about. For instance, even the most devoted parents would sometimes rather not cook a healthy meal for their children. Even parents who are committed to educating and providing their children with nutrient-rich foods may feel unfulfilled when laboring over a meal after a long day at work. It is during these seemingly small daily challenges that it is crucial to connect our actions to our purpose.
The key to establishing consistently effective actions is to connect our responsibilities and obligations to our broader purpose.
- To connect your daily tasks with a deeper sense of purpose and significance, take a moment to identify any obligations or responsibilities that currently lack fulfillment for you.
- Then, reflect on how these obligations align with your core values and overarching purpose. For instance, as a professor, grading papers is tedious and one of my least enjoyable tasks; however, it directly contributes to my commitment to fostering my students' academic growth and development. By recognizing the connection between providing constructive feedback and supporting my students' scholarly journey, I infuse the task with meaning and reduce its perceived burden.
To sum, the power of purpose is that it provides a framework for which all our current and future decisions and actions originate. Purpose ignites passion, which inspires dedication, grit, and action. To be effective in creating this meaning, it is essential that our sense of self is intimately tied to our sense of purpose. Purpose does more than spark action, however, it provides the motivation, desire, and fortitude to persevere when challenges seem insurmountable.
1. McKnight, P. E., & Kashdan, T. B. (2009). Purpose in life as a system that creates and sustains health and well-being: An integrative, testable theory. Review of General Psychology, 13(3), 242–251.
2. Steger, M. F. (2012). Experiencing meaning in life: Optimal functioning at the nexus of well-being, psychopathology, and spirituality. In P. T. P. Wong (Ed.), The human quest for meaning: Theories, research, and applications (2nd ed., pp. 165–184). New York, NY: Routledge.
3. Boyle, P. A., Buchman, A. S., Barnes, L. L., & Bennett, D. A. (2010). Effect of a purpose in life on risk of incident Alzheimer Disease and Mild Cognitive Impairment in community-dwelling older persons. Archives of General Psychiatry, 67(3), 304-310. doi:10.1001/archgenpsychiatry.2009.208.
4. Hill, P. L., & Turiano, N. A. (2014). Purpose in life as a predictor of mortality across adulthood. Psychological Science, 25(7), 1482-1486.
5. Duckworth, A. L., Peterson, C., Matthews, M. D., & Kelly, D. R. (2007). Grit: Perseverance and passion for long- term goals. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 1087–1101.
6. Schaefer, S. M., Boylan, J. M., van Reekum, C. M., Lapate, R. C., Norris, C. J., Ryff, C. D., & Davidson, R. J. (2013). Purpose in life predicts better emotional recovery from negative stimuli. PLoS ONE, 8(11): e80329.
7. Sheldon, K. M., Ryan, R. M., Deci, E. L., & Kasser, T. (2004). The independent effects of goal contents and motives on well-being: It’s both what you pursue and why you pursue it. Personality and Social Psychological Bulletin, 30(4), 475-486.
8. Hill, P. L., Burrow, A. L, & Bronk, K. C. (2016). Persevering with positivity and purpose: An examination of purpose commitment and positive affect as predictors of grit. Journal of Happiness Studies, 17, 257-269.
9. Frankl, V. E. (1959). The spiritual dimension in existential analysis and logotherapy. Journal of Individual Psychology, 15, 157–165.
