Have you ever started a project and attempted to skip a step or two only to be disappointed with the results? I have to admit that I was quick to brush aside the quality of Grit, thinking that it really didn’t have much to offer in terms of everyday excellence/success that was different from courage. After sitting with it for a bit I realized that Grit is a very important ingredient. In fact, it is the very thing that steps in when courage runs out.
Let’s back up a bit…the first element of everyday excellence and success is creating a vision or goal for yourself, then you need to call upon courage in order to attempt your vision, now this is where the grit comes in. How many times have you started a challenge, set goals for yourself, made a pact that you will do this or that only to have everything collapse and leave you feeling deflated, wondering why you can’t seem to achieve your goals? Without the essential element of Grit to scrape away at the very tough beliefs and stories that we believe about ourselves we can easily fall short of our dreams.
Think of grit as the sandpaper for the human mind. It polishes and cleans the debris that has blocked our view of how to live the life we really want for ourselves. Grit is the perseverance and endurance that we pull from deep within ourselves that is required to move beyond the ordinary and into a life of everyday excellence. Grit is the backbone of success that presents itself as your resilience, determination, and fortitude to keep up no matter what obstacles stand in your way, or how many times you fall down or how many people tell you that you are crazy.
So the big question is, can you build Grit? Absolutely! Here are a few ways to help you build your own grit.
- Start to hang around with people that you view as successful because of their dedication to their goal
- Start to recognize your own negative thoughts about achieving your goal and replace them with positive ones. i.e. “I can’t do this” transformed into “I have made it through tough times before and I can do it again”
- When you want to give up, come back to your vision, sit and visualize yourself already having completed your goal.
- Realize that every time you make it through a day you are one step closer to your goal.
- Change your perspective. When you make a mistake or fall short of your own expectations tell yourself that this is an opportunity to see things differently and reaffirm your objectives.
- And finally my favourite way to build grit is by strengthening the nervous system by doing Kundalini Yoga.
What is your relationship with your own Grit? Can you recognize the times you effortlessly use it? Can you recognize when you sabotage your efforts or ignore grit?
Namaste
Paula
DON’T QUIT!
When things go wrong as they sometimes will
When the road you’re trudging seems all uphill
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh
When care is pressing you down a bit
Rest, if you must, but don’t you quit.
Life is queer, with its twists and turns
As everyone of us sometimes learns
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out
Don’t give up though the pace seems slow
You may succeed with another blow.
Success is failure turned inside out
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt
And you never can tell how close you are
It may be near when it seems so far
So stick to the fight when you’re hardest hit
It’s when things seem worst that you must not quit.
– Unknown
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