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Tom Toro draws cartoons for The New Yorker magazine, long considered the ultimate cartoonists’ showcase.
His work springs from his humorous observations concerning the challenges of everyday life, as evidenced by the panel above.
But it took a while before he hit the big time.
The New Yorker accepted his 610th cartoon. Before that, Toro had received 609 rejection letters.
This is not unusual in the world of cartoonists. The typical rejection rate for major publications is 97%.
That means even for the funniest people doing their best work, only three out of 100 submissions get the thumbs up. One artist sent more than 2,000 panels to The New Yorker before his first hit. Ironically, he went on to become the magazine’s beloved cartoon editor.
All of this raises a compelling question: What kind of people can possibly endure a 97% rate of rejection?
According to psychologist and author Angela Duckworth, the answer is people who embody “grit.”
In Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance, Duckworth describes why some of the world’s most talented men and women fall short of significant achievement, while others who seem to just plug along become the real agents of change.
Her conclusion? “Talent is overrated.” Our culture is transfixed with talented athletes, talented artists, and talented leaders. But what it really takes to succeed is sustained effort over a long time. “Grit” is the ability to keep going, even in the face of failure.
Duckworth’s studies led her to concoct a two-part formula.
Everyone affirms the first equation: Talent + Effort = Skill. Talented people really do have an edge getting out of the gate.
But the second equation is the ultimate key to success: Skill + Effort = Achievement.
As Duckworth points out, “Effort counts twice.” It’s the one thing that appears on the left side of both equations. What a previous generation called sticktoitiveness is the ability to summon the will to stick with something, even when you want, for all the world, to grab a bag of Doritos, curl up on the couch, and binge watch reruns of Cheers.
Angela is a living embodiment of her own formula.
Her father used to sigh and say to her, “You know, you’re no genius.” Duckworth grew up believing that – and she still does.
The irony is that in 2013, because of her ground-breaking research into the field of human achievement, she became a MacArthur Fellow. That’s the so-called Genius Award. Angela’s father is intensely proud of her great success, which both of them know has primarily come about through sheer grit.
There are no verses in the Old or New Testaments that speak directly of “spiritual grittiness.” But these rousing words of the apostle Paul come pretty close:
“Not that I… have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus” (Philippians 3:12-14).
More simply: Once you’ve caught a glimpse of God’s call on your life, decide that you will pursue it and never quit.
Or as Tom Toro recently put it: “If at first you don’t succeed, try and try and try and try and try and try and try again.”