Grit, as a personality trait, isn’t just a synonym of persistence, toughness, and ambition,but a culmination of them. And yet, grit is more. It’s everything mentioned, but with the addition of passion.
Grit is a man passionate towards along term goal, and his resilience on the road to achieving it. Just as the great warrior – Alexander the Great, for example – had grit, so does the entrepreneur. The man trying to lose 30 pounds needs grit to lose that weight, just like the boxer needs it to win the title, and to keep it.
Rocky Marciano had true grit, as did Joe Louis. Churchill and Napoleon had it in spades. Grit separates the strong from the weak, the courageous from the fearful.
Although grit is a focused man on a mission, it isn’t the hot shot rising to stardom, seeking fame. A man with true grit is stoic and silent in the face of his trials. He’s humble.