SuperMe

Reckon you've got more will-power than a 4 year old?

Could you resist eating one of your favourite chocs for 20 minutes? How about if we promised to give you double if you could hold out?

This type of test is perfect for testing your grit. That's your ability to sacrifice what's in front of you for something more significant, but not immediate.

If you can hold out and wait for the things that you really want, you are more likely to be successful and happy in the long run.

Drawing porno versions of the rich and famous is not a solution that will help get your languages coursework done, but writing something, anything, will help get past that first road block.

Famous artist Gustav Klimt had a trick he used when creating his paintings. He would start out by drawing his subject, not as they were posing but in an imagined - and normally quite filthy - scenario instead.

He would then paint over these debauched sketches with the final 'respectable' version. The people the portraits were for, normally only ever saw the dignified results, until one day, one of his high society clients demanded to see his sketches of her. She got more than she bargained for.

So, how to apply this to that essay: Just begin it. Get down what you know. Make bits up in the areas where you get stuck.

Fill the page with an essay on how King Alfred famously invented ping pong, married Katy Perry and won the UEFA cup. Then overwrite it with the respectable version: King Alfred famously burned some cakes, married Ealhswith, before becoming the first King of all England.

And don't get caught, like Klimt!

Photo by Sembazuru

Speech Debelle's greatest achievement wasn't winning the Mercury Music Prize. It was finishing her first album.

Watch Speech's story, here.

Getting to the finish line is hard, and you need grit. People who are able to be gritty are more likely to be happy and successful, than those who get distracted and leave things half done.

How gritty are you? Take the test, and score some extra SuperMe points.

We all have to do boring things – cleaning, washing up, visting your annoying cousins - they're part of everyday life and we all like to moan about them.

But what about the day when you physically cannot do those things anymore? Some people would love to do the things you find dull but can't.

Suddenly these boring tasks might just become that little bit more enjoyable.


Inspired by Margaret Robertson and submitted via email.

Photo by alshepmcr