When it comes to achieving long-term health goals, one essential factor often overlooked is grit. Grit, as defined by psychologist Angela Duckworth, is the combination of passion and perseverance toward long-term goals. It’s not just about willpower or discipline—it’s the ability to stay committed even when faced with setbacks. But how do you measure grit? Enter the Grit Score, a tool that can give you insight into your own determination and persistence, and how these traits influence your health journey.

What is a Grit Score?

The Grit Score is a self-assessment that helps you understand how much perseverance and passion you bring to your goals. It’s based on a short quiz designed by Angela Duckworth, which measures your tendencies in areas such as:

• Consistency of Interests: Do you stay focused on the same long-term goals over time, or do you frequently shift your attention?
• Perseverance of Effort: How do you respond to challenges? Do you stick with your efforts even when progress seems slow?

After answering the quiz, you’ll receive a score between 1 and 5, with 5 being the highest level of grit. This score can help you gauge how likely you are to keep pushing toward your goals, even in the face of obstacles.

How to Determine Your Grit Score

1. Take the Grit Scale Quiz: You can find the Grit Scale online, which consists of just 10 questions. These questions are designed to assess how passionate and persistent you are in working toward your long-term goals.
2. Review Your Score: Once you’ve completed the quiz, you’ll receive your score. A higher Grit Score (closer to 5) suggests a stronger ability to persevere and remain focused over time, while a lower score might indicate that you tend to change directions or lose momentum when faced with challenges.

How Grit Ties Into Your Health Journey

When you’re working to improve your health—whether it’s through fitness, nutrition, or lifestyle changes—grit plays a critical role. Health journeys are rarely linear, and you will encounter setbacks, plateaus, and challenges along the way. Here’s how your Grit Score ties into your ability to succeed:

1. Overcoming Setbacks: Health transformations don’t happen overnight. If you have a high Grit Score, you’re more likely to push through tough times, whether it’s dealing with an injury, a plateau, or navigating a busy life schedule.
2. Consistency in Healthy Habits: People with high grit tend to stick with healthy habits, even when progress feels slow or results aren’t immediate. Grit helps you stay motivated to make small, incremental changes that add up to significant improvements over time.
3. Focus on Long-Term Goals: Health isn’t just about a quick fix. Grit allows you to focus on the bigger picture and long-term success, helping you stay committed to making sustainable changes that benefit your well-being.
4. Emotional Resilience: On a health journey, emotional resilience is key to bouncing back from moments of doubt or discouragement. A high Grit Score means you have the mental toughness to get back on track, even when things get hard.

Improving Your Grit to Reach Your Health Goals

If your Grit Score is lower than you’d like, don’t worry—grit can be cultivated! Here are some ways to build it:

• Set Specific, Long-Term Health Goals: Having clear goals helps you stay focused on the outcome, which makes it easier to persist.
• Break Down Goals into Small Steps: Breaking larger health goals into manageable steps prevents overwhelm and helps you celebrate small wins along the way.
• Find Your Passion for Health: Discover what excites you about your health journey. Whether it’s learning new recipes, trying new workouts, or tracking progress, passion fuels perseverance.
• Embrace Setbacks as Learning Opportunities: Understand that challenges are part of the process, and view them as opportunities for growth rather than failures.

Grit and Health: A Perfect Match

Your health journey requires more than just physical strength—it demands mental toughness and determination. Knowing your Grit Score can give you valuable insights into how likely you are to stay committed to your long-term health goals, and understanding your grit can help you identify areas for improvement in your approach to wellness.

Whether your Grit Score is high or you’re working to build it, remember that grit is like a muscle—it can be developed with time and practice. Staying passionate and persevering through obstacles will help you achieve a healthier, happier life.

Ready to take the next step in your health journey? Call us today to schedule a consultation and learn how we can help you harness your grit to achieve lasting wellness. Our team at Upstream Functional Medicine in Colorado Springs is here to guide you every step of the way!