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Growing up, no one told me that life can be hard sometimes.

Raising kids, growing a business, running a marathon, and contributing to the community can be incredibly rewarding. And hard.

We can learn a lot from world-class performers. They dream big, do small often and consistently, and they fail (a lot). Are Olympians, accomplished musicians, senior leaders, and those who are starting movements to make the world a better place equipped with super powers, an abnormally high IQ (well, some are but not a prerequisite) or an extra "success" chromosome?

According to Angela Duckworth, the author of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, the answer is "no." In order to be world-class at what’s most important to us, we must commit to attempting what’s hard for us. We must be intentional about pushing ourselves to do things that are difficult and then stick with it for a specific amount of time.

If you want to get better at...