Being a meeting planner is not an easy profession. In CareerCast.com Jobs Related report on the 10 Most Stressful Jobs of 2018, event planner came in at number five, right after police officer and just before newspaper reporter. The report criteria included amount of travel, deadlines, and working in the public eye which are all key components of the meeting planning profession.
I am often asked how I stay motivated during the lengthy planning process and how I handle the long hours and stress during an event or conference. I just found a term that is perfect – grit! New York Times bestselling author and pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth has defined grit and is studying its importance. In her TED talk, Angela describes grit as “passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. Grit is stamina. Grit is sticking with your future, day in, day out, not just for the week, not just for the month, but for years and working really hard to make that future a reality. Grit is living life like it’s a marathon, not a sprint.”
The term’s definition is a little bigger than planning and working a meeting, which can sometimes seem like marathons themselves. The definition of grit seems to fit the qualities required to be a successful planner so I decided to take her Grit Scale quiz to see how gritty I am and found that I did pretty well, with an above average score.
Do you want to develop more grit? Good news, Duckworth has scientifically proven that you can grow your grit! In her book, Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, she describes the four components of GRIT:
Tremendously deep interest in what you do
Capacity to practice
Sense of purpose for what you are doing
Hope
Take a look at these four components and see what you can improve on in your life. Then to grow your grit, Duckworth says you need to use “Growth Mindset” which is scientific research being done at Stanford University by Carol Dweck. According to Dweck, growth mindset is the understanding that abilities and intelligence can be developed. Dweck’s work has proven we can indeed change our mindset from fixed to growth, and when we do, it leads to increased motivation and achievement. If you put in the effort to learn and improve the key components of grit in your life, you can change your abilities. If you fail during the process, you are more likely to persevere because you have learned that your abilities are not fixed and failure is not a permanent condition.
To get started, identify where you may have fixed mindset tendencies so that you can work to become more growth minded. to see where you might have those fixed mindset tendencies. Duckworth says the grittiest people have a “deep confidence that though the world may not be perfect and that they may not be perfect, there is typically something they can do to make things a little better.” In the end, that is what a meeting planner strives to do and that’s what keeps them gritty. What can make you gritty?
About the author:
Genevieve Kulaski grew-up in Missoula as a true Montana kid, camping all summer and skiing all winter. Wanting to see the world, she took off after high school. She started out exploring Colorado while attending CU Boulder, studied abroad in Russia, and then continued her travels while serving in the Air Force after college graduation. She landed in Washington D.C., but only for a short while, because she met her Montana cowboy who convinced her to move back home. There is truly no place like home! They spent a few years in Bozeman where Genevieve worked as a destination management specialist helping groups explore the beauty and unique experiences the Greater Yellowstone Area has to offer. They are now raising their three kids on the family ranch outside of Philipsburg and Genevieve continues to explore the state for those can’t-miss experiences. Genevieve loves sharing her home state with visitors and putting together one-of-a-kind Montana events that leave everyone with memories to last a lifetime.
