An expert on grit and motivation, James Clear wrote a book about the Finnish version of grit -- one of the best predictors of success in the world.

On November 30, 1939, the Finnish began a campaign of fierce resistance against incredible odds that would soon stand as an enduring, global example of stoic determination, grit, bravery, resilience and hardiness.  Without warning, Soviet Union planes came roaring over the city of Helsinki as Finland was about to receive a violent thrust into World War II.

The Soviets dropped more than 350 bombs during the raid. Innocent civilians died. Entire buildings were turned to dust. And it was just the beginning. Three hours before the air strike, more than 450,000 Soviet soldiers began marching across the Finnish border. The Soviet soldiers outnumbered the Finnish army almost 3-to-1. That was not the worst of it. The Soviets also commanded more than 6,000 armored tanks and almost 4,000 aircraft. Finland, meanwhile, had just 32 tanks and 114 aircraft.

It was the beginning of what became known as the Winter War. For the Finns, there was no question whether some of them would die. The question was whether any of them would survive.
The Winter War

The winter was brutal that year. In January, temperatures dropped to 40 degrees below zero. Furthermore, at that time of the year and with Finland being located so far north, the soldiers were surrounded by darkness for almost 18 hours per day. Vastly outnumbered, fighting in a brutally cold darkness, and facing near certain death, the Finnish soldiers relied on a concept that has been part of Finnish culture for hundreds of years: Sisu.

Sisu is a word that has no direct translation, but it refers to the idea of continuing to act even in the face of repeated failures and extreme odds. It is a way of living life by displaying perseverance even when you have reached the end of your mental and physical capacities. During the Winter War, the extreme mental toughness of Sisu was all the Finnish soldiers could rely on.

The Finns would suffer more than 70,000 casualties during the Winter War. However, that number would pale in comparison to the 323,000 Soviet casualties inflicted by the Finns during the same time. By the end of winter, the Soviets had seen enough and the Moscow Peace Treaty was signed in March 1940. In all, the Soviets attacked with over 900,000 soldiers during the Winter War and 300,000 Finns managed to fight them to a standstill.

Sisu

Emilia Lahti, a PhD candidate at Aalto University in Helsinki and former student of Angela Duckworth at University of Pennsylvania, studies the concept of Sisu and how it applies to our lives. According to Lahti, “Sisu is the concept of taking action in the face of significant adversity or challenge. It is not so much about achievement as it is about facing your challenges with valor and determination.” She goes on to say, “Sisu provides the final empowering push, when we would otherwise hesitate to act.”

In many ways, Sisu is similar to grit, which has been shown to be one of the best predictors of success in the real world. For example, Angela Duckworth’s research on grit has shown that…

• West Point cadets who scored highest on the Grit Test were 60% more likely to succeed than their peers.
• Ivy League undergraduate students who had more grit also had higher GPAs than their peers — even though they had lower SAT scores and were not deemed as “smart.”
• When comparing two people who are the same age but have different levels of education, grit, not intelligence, more accurately predicts which one will be better educated.
• Competitors in the National Spelling Bee outperform their peers not because of IQ, but because of their grit and commitment to more consistent practice.

But Sisu runs even deeper than grit. It is a type of mental toughness that allows you to bear the burden of your responsibilities, whatever they happen to be, with a will and perseverance that is unbreakable. It is the ability to sustain your action and fight against extreme odds. Sisu extends beyond perseverance. It is what you rely on when you feel like you have nothing left.

Failure is an Event, Not an Identity

Joshua Waitzkin, a martial arts competitor and champion chess player, says, “At a high level of competition, success often hinges on who determines the field and tone of battle.” It is your mental toughness—your Sisu—that determines the tone of battle.

Many people let their battles define them. They see failure as an indication of who they are. Mentally tough people let their perseverance define them. They see failure as an event. Failure is something that happens to a person, not who a person is. This is the attitude that helped carry the Finnish soldiers through the Winter War. Even when surrounded by failure, by death, and by insurmountable odds, their Sisu did not let the soldiers see themselves as failures.

This same attitude helped carry Dwayne Johnson out of a life of poverty and despair into the Hollywood limelight, where he has recently been deemed the highest paid actor and the Sexiest Man Alive.  Dwayne Johnson credits his grit on the gridiron as his life’s definition and serves as the basis for the cover story in a recent edition of Sports Illustrated.  Johnson and his family lived a tumultuous life, existing on the fringes, dogged by eviction notices, constantly on the move, and plagued by violence.  The teenaged Dwayne had an acute affliction with authority, raking up frequent trips to the principal’s office and brushes with law enforcement.  He had just moved to his fourth high school in three years when he had an experience that would frame his future and help him develop the grit that would eventually make him one of the biggest stars in Hollywood.  In his second week at Freedom high in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, Dwayne decided he did not like the smell of the boys’ bathroom and nonchalantly strolled through the teachers’ lounge to the attached restroom.  He was at the urinal when a stout, barrel-chested man informed him that he was in the wrong place.  Johnson ignored the teacher, lackadaisically washing his hands while the man impatiently pounded on the wall and yelled, “You need to get the f--- out of here!” 

Something about the confrontation affected Dwayne and caused him to track down the teacher, Jody Cwik.  I went to his office and “apologized for being such a punk,” Johnson said.  “I didn’t want to be that kid.  He shook my hand and woundn’t let go.  Crushing handshake.  And he looked in my eyes and said, ‘Son, I want you to come out and play football for me.’ That was the day everything changed.”  Football gave Dwayne the structure and discipline his life lacked and provided the positive role model that Dwayne needed. Johnson fell in love with the game and, he says, “It gave my life purpose.”  Coach Cwik mentored Johnson and encouraged him to pursue a football scholarship, the ticket that would later enable Johnson to be the first member of his family to go to college. 

Dwayne received dozens of offers, including Clemson, Florida State, Penn State, and UCLA, and eventually decided to go to Miami.  In quick order, he made such a great first impression that he was about to be the only true freshman on the Hurricanes’ roster.  Then, on one of the last practice sessions before the start of the regular season, Johnson suffered a season-ending shoulder injury that necessitated the first of several other surgeries that would hamper his college career.  The coach replaced Johnson with Warren Sapp, and Dwayne spent the rest of his college career in Sapp’s shadow.  After graduation and unable to garner interest from any NFL team, Johnson signed with the Calgary Stampeders in the Canadian Football League.  In less than two months, he was cut.  Johnson moved home with his parents with a heavy heart and just seven dollars in his pocket. 

 Within a year, Johnson rebounded and joined the World Wrestling Federation.  In less than five years, Johnson was well onto his way of becoming a Hollywood phenomenon.  Today, Johnson is the highest paid actor in Hollywood, raking in $64.5 million in 2016.  When asked about his perseverance, Johnson invokes the actor Kurt Russell, who played second base for the Angels’ minor league team until a rotator cuff injury killed his athletic dreams.  “So much of his drive comes from failing as a baseball player,” Johnson says of his mentor.  “We’ve had great philosophical conversations about how you make sense of your failures.  And you know what the simple answer is?  I was in the wrong game. And now I’m in the right one.” 

We all experience failure, but by employing a sense of Sisi, we can better understand that failure is an event, not an identity.