What does it take?

Success in academia isn’t just about intelligence (IQ). It’s about your ability to persist regardless of pressure, failure, and discomfort.

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In this post, I am doing a bit of self-reflection. Specifically, I am reflecting on the value of grit, the kind forged through discomfort. And why it is the hidden advantage that top-performing PhD students rely on.

How Early Wins Built Grit

I was a high school superstar. I mean academically. I was very fortunate to be so busy and in a school that offered these activities. I did athletics (mostly short sprints), played hockey (for school and provincial teams), was part of the debate team, part of the prestige public speaking team, and did drama. You get the picture. I graduated high school as one of the Top 10 performers and was awarded my School District’s best student in Geography (2009).

In my first year at university, I was invited to join the Golden Key International Society South Africa. I was also the Best Student in Archaeology in my first and third years. During my undergraduate career, I attended the yearly field schools of the Department of Archaeology and Anthropology, and I also served a 2-year term on the House Committee of the Ladies Residence where I stayed. After this, I completed two Honours degrees, with a break in between to do an internship. My academic performance wasn’t bad, but not as strong as during my undergraduate degree.

In hindsight, my high school habits carried me further than I thought.

Losing my edge

From the combined fruits of my past academic achievements, work experiences and passion for the discipline, I received a Chevening scholarship to do a Master’s in Archaeology. Looking back, the year I completed my master’s is most probably the year I performed the worst academically. It was also the year I was the least involved in activities.

Having always been busy and engaged in a wide range of activities, I told myself that this would be the year I wouldn’t participate in anything else so I could focus fully on academics. That plan bombed spectacularly.

My grades didn’t drop because I did too much. They dropped because I did too little of what kept me sharp. The irony of the situation isn’t lost on me.

Stress, Grit, and the PhD Grind

I don’t mean to list these things to brag. Rather, I’m trying to make a point, maybe to test a hypothesis. I am a few months into the second year of my PhD. Academia is a stressful and competitive business. While still early in my PhD, I keep reminding myself that once I complete this PhD, I will need to find a job. Meaning hard work, excellent work today, will open future opportunities.

Thinking about excelling, about being a top performer, I started wondering if there is a correlation between high-achieving students and their engagement in extracurricular activities. As a high schooler, I spoke better, was more confident and disciplined. At least I think so. I wonder now if that was the result of being so actively involved.

Psychologists have been studying just this question for years. They have found that as a cognitive behavioural technique, “Stress inoculation” helps individuals build resilience through gradual exposure to high stress or high-pressure situations. Unknowingly, through my participation in several after-school activities, I had been slowly building up stress tolerance, which helped me work and focus better during other stressful situations, such as exams. I had developed resiliency that helped me cope with discomfort.

This phenomenon is called “positive transfer”. Basically, the idea is that stress-management skills acquired in one domain (e.g., drama or athletics) can transfer to other areas (like exam-taking or public speaking). By being involved in stressful situations (public speaking or high-pressure sports like running), our bodies and minds get used to the pressure. Our hearts pump, our palms sweat, and we take deep breaths. This may explain why PhD students who engage in regular activities outside of academia perform better on the spot and in other stressful scenarios.

Having been involved in many activities, often challenging myself to improve, I developed the habit of persevering. The habit of continuous commitment. A habit of showing up, even if it was early, dark or cold. I developed grit.

Grit is such an underrated tool in any PhD student’s arsenal. Grit, as studies by Angela Duckworth and her team have shown, is associated with students and academics who persevere even in discomfort and achieve more academically. And just to be clear, this has nothing to do with talent. Grit is focused effort and interest over time. Grit has very little to do with IQ, their study found.

Many of those who achieved success were surrounded by people far more talented and smarter. But because they had grit, they persevered when things got tough. Or even when they failed, they kept going.

The idea that skills trump talent and passion has also been explored in depth by Cal Newport in his book “So Good They Can’t Ignore You”. It is one of my favourite books. Newport dives deep into how dedicated focus and perseverance can set individuals apart, and how developing rare and valuable skills or core competencies through grit (intentional effort) can lead to a fulfilling career built on doing work we genuinely enjoy.

Isn’t this the ultimate goal of any PhD? To develop ourselves as specialists in a particular field, with rare and valuable skills and knowledge, so we can secure post-docs or teaching positions, while working in research areas we enjoy and find meaningful?

Back Into the Fire On Purpose

As a PhD student, speaking, writing and thinking well are critical skills that separate a good PhD student from an excellent one. To perform better, to excel, I want to place myself back into the grind. I want to develop my grit again. Not to cause unnecessary anxiety, but to train my mind and body to get comfortable with discomfort.

I think it will allow me to become more confident in my writing and thinking. It will allow me to focus and spend my time wisely. The aftereffects, I am hoping, will be increased confidence during my viva and conference presentations, and better management of the general pressure that comes with the PhD.

Working toward this, I have signed up to run a 10km and a half-marathon this year. I am, of course, not the first PhD student to realise the benefit of exercise and academic performance. For me, it also includes writing this newsletter and posting it regularly. I’m also considering signing up for Toastmasters or getting a vocal coach. Still deciding on that one.

Grit isn’t glamorous. It is showing up when no one’s watching, doing the reps (like reading, writing and speaking daily) and pushing your limits on purpose.

If you are deep in the PhD grind, don’t just survive. Train for it.

This month, I’m doing just that. What will you do?