One thing I've wondered about with respect to conscientiousness, is how it is defined. The way the word is informally used, a conscientious person is likely to

One thing I've wondered about with respect to conscientiousness, is how it is defined. The way the word is informally used, a conscientious person is likely to be deemed conscientious by a supervisor due to obedience, rule following, punctuality, etc. Is there a sense in which someone can be conscientious to his/her own life goals? I think in cases where one's life goals diverge from pleasing authority figures, the word conscientiousness falls short (in informal meaning, at least). Grit, on the other hand, seems to more aptly describe a person's dogged determination to achieve an outcome. I'm not sure which of the above are actually predictors of life outcomes.