"Few traits are celebrated today as much as sheer persistence. We demand it of ourselves as we grind toward the mythical 10,000 hours of mastery. We demand it of our children as they sit through years of standardized schooling that promise career paths their neighbors will envy. We praise athletes for "toughing it out" and entrepreneurs for "grinding harder than others" while we pat ourselves on the back when we "stick with the plan.""
"Those who burn the candle at both ends believe they're living twice as much as everyone else, and yet, blind grit is closer to kryptonite for a fulfilling life. When deployed carelessly, grit traps us in sunk costs and keeps us marching to someone else's rules, tricking us into mistaking sheer endurance for meaning. If we want to thrive instead of simply strive, we need to rethink what deserves our grit, and the journey begins by learning to shed the stigma we attach to quitting."
Persistence often produces success by turning ideas into realized skill through sustained effort. Unchecked persistence can become a cult of grit that normalizes punishing work cultures and endurance for its own sake. Blind grit can trap people in sunk costs, enforce external rules, and substitute endurance for genuine meaning. Optimal quitting redirects time and energy toward opportunities that scale and satisfy, freeing individuals to prioritize fulfillment. Choosing relationships and authenticity over mastery and status fosters longer-lasting wellbeing than relentless pursuit of conventional success.
Read at Psychology Today
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