As an educator, you may be hearing a lot about grit these days—and with good reason. Studies show that kids who demonstrate grit persist at hard tasks and outperform their competitors. Grit is a critical strength of most people who are successful. It is especially complex because it is related to other skills and mindsets such as optimism, purpose, growth mindset, bravery, and even self-control.

There are a lot of misconceptions about grit. Grit is much more than just encouraging kids to “try harder” or not give up—it’s also about helping kids find their passion. Having grit does not mean never quitting—it means quitting responsibly (and not just because times get tough) and sticking to the things to which you are truly dedicated.

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A growth mindset is a belief that we can get smarter through hard work and practice. This means that struggling with something difficult doesn’t mean you’re not smart—it’s a chance to grow your intelligence. Growth mindset is all about trying hard, using good strategies, and getting the help you need.

Growth mindset is a popular notion in the field of education right now, but it’s commonly misunderstood. It might seem like growth mindset implies that everyone has exactly the same potential in every domain, but that’s not quite true. Instead, growth mindset means everyone’s intellectual ability can always be further developed. Growth mindset is not about telling your students to never give up. A benefit of growth mindset is that it helps you stay motivated to stick it out when things are difficult, but telling students not to quit won't do that alone. You have to (truthfully!) convince kids that their efforts will result in increased ability (because ability can grow!) and remind them that they're learning when something is hard for them to do.

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Social/Emotional intelligence refers to the ability to understand your own and others’ feelings and emotions and then to use this understanding to inform your decisions and actions. Socially/emotionally intelligent people solve interpersonal problems quickly by understanding what is upsetting others and being empathetic to these concerns. They tend to recognize when they've said something that made someone uncomfortable and know what makes others "tick.” Socially/emotionally intelligent people are able to thrive in many different relationships and settings because they quickly learn the social rules.

Having a purpose is different from being tracked into a specific vocation or outcome— it's being oriented toward a vision of the future. Perhaps it’s a big goal you have for your future, a motivation to help the world around you, or both. The goal or purpose itself can be general, and it can be relatively temporary. When kids are motivated by a larger purpose, studies show that they have more academic motivation, life satisfaction, identity formation, and vocational success.

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When people hear the word “zest,” they may first think of lemons. In psychology, zest and vitality are a combination of the physical sense and the psychological sense of feeling well. Zest is about exhibiting enthusiasm and feeling energized. But zest doesn’t need to be loud—the quiet, introverted artist can approach her latest project with zest, even if she is alone in her studio.

Most kids have enthusiasm for something. In school, we can work to find what that something is and be sure not to extinguish it as kids get older.

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Self-control is about harnessing your energy toward a particular end goal—it is not the same as obedience or following rules.

Two important types of self-control for students are work self-control and interpersonal self-control. Having work self-control allows you to stick with your long-term goals and stay focused on a task that may be difficult or even boring. (This is the sort of self-control that also helps you stick to an exercise plan or make healthy eating choices in the face of temptation.) Interpersonal self-control allows you to maintain your temper, hold back from interrupting, and respond to others in ways that are socially appropriate.

Someone displaying self-control can delay a short-term temptation to play games on her phone if it interferes with her long-term aspiration to do her homework each night. Someone with high self-control who aims to run a marathon will not press the alarm clock’s snooze button on the morning he scheduled a training run. In this way, self-control is linked to grit, growth mindset, and optimism.

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Those who demonstrate gratitude—and those who don’t—see life differently. Individuals demonstrating gratitude tend to emphasize language related to gifts, givers, blessings, blessed, fortune, fortunate, and abundance. Individuals who don’t demonstrate gratitude, on the other hand, tend to focus on deprivation, deservingness, regrets, lack, need, scarcity, and loss. For instance, a grateful person might say, “I get to go to class today,” whereas an ungrateful person might say, “Why do I have to learn all this useless stuff?”

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