Grit.
in psychology is a positive, non-cognitive trait, based on an individual’s passion for a particular long-term goal or end state coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective. (wikipedia)
Those who succeed most likely have a strong motivation to persevere the goal and achieve, with a strong resilience in face of adversity.
Grit involves maintaining goal focused effort for extended periods of time, often while facing adversity but does not require a critical incident. Importantly, Grit is conceptualized as a trait while resilience is a dynamic process. (wikipedia)
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See this wonderful post by Jackie http://usergeneratededucation.wordpress.com/2013/05/22/the-other-21st-century-skills/ where she elaborated on grit.
See this recent post by Jackie on Grit http://networkedblogs.com/LKCig