The guru trade appears to be in rude health, with no shortage of experts providing us with advice and guidance on how to be successful, whether that’s in our careers, our love life, our health or wellbeing.

An unlikely addition to that canon comes via new research from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology.  They set out to identify some of the more decisive factors behind success in a variety of fields.  As a result, they’ve developed a scale that measures our passion in relation to a particular skill.

“A key concept in this context is to find an area that you’re interested in. That’s how we can light the spark,” the researchers explain.

Putting the hours in

While accepting the limitations of the 10,000 hours of practice popularized by Malcolm Gladwell, the researchers nonetheless suggest considerable practice is inevitable, and therefore explore our inclination to put in that level of work.

Therefore, they suggest that passion for the task is important, but so too are grit and perseverance to continue pursuing the activity even during challenging times.  Couple this with a positive mindset and you might be onto a winner.

“Passion sets the direction of your arrow, but grit determines the strength and size of the arrow,” the researchers say.

The researchers suggest that there are also slight gender differences in how we pursue our passions.  For instance, for men, they believe passion and grit are key, whereas for women, grit and a positive mindset are more prevalent.

All of which, one could argue, is nothing particularly new, but when it comes to success, there appears to be no shortage of appetite for people expressing similar thoughts in new ways.  In this sense, the research is very much on point.