Grit: Part 1

As a mom of a young boy, I worry about our boys. 

I look at boys at my school that are 4, that are 8, that are 11 and I notice a common thread among all of them.  Their energy levels are enormous and our current educational practices aren't reaching them in the way that they could or should. 

What are we doing wrong?

I try to think of my husband, my father.  I don't have grandfathers that are still alive and when they were I didn't know them well enough.  Anywise, back to my husband and father.  

My husband born in 1977, Spanish, raised by his mother and a nanny predominantly, went to Catholic school, from an early age was quite academic and had papers published by high school.  He was not an athlete but the school was nurturing his computer engineering talents as he quickly became a young business owner and flourished.   His mother was successful in running the family pharmacy. 

Then my father born, to an American mother and a Czech father, nearly 25 years before in 1951, grew up predominantly in Northern Minnesota. Also, was without a father in many ways, but was a strong athlete, runner, rugby and football player as well as valedictorian of his class.  His mother did a variety of civil service jobs but I am not sure I would dub her highly successful.  She was strong and independent and raised her 2 boys, one of which had MD.  

As I write all this down, I realize these two men in my life are probably not the best typical examples.   They had a level of intrinsic motivation that educators, employers, parents, dream of, but then I realize that's just it. 

It's that grit, so it gets down to determining where that comes from.   I do agree with Daniel Pink, the carrot is not it.  I think there are so many other factors that affect drive.   I think there's parental support, being there to pick people up when they fall, being there to provide a number of opportunities for growth and brain development.  Then, I think of all the kids that come from underprivileged families and still power ahead to do something with their lives which contradicts that theory.  I think that planting the seed of having a dream and nurturing those ideas as if they are a real possibility is super important.  Acknowledgment that we can always grow and be better is something that influences my drive.  

Getting back to those boys, I am now on a mission about articles, books related to motivation and grit.  I'll try to write part two once I've done a little research. 

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