Grit and You: Part 2

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Happy Tuesday!

Today is Grit: Part 2 (Grit: Part 1 was last week) on and how having it can affect your life – for the better.

Grit can influence different part of your life: success in business, patience, and passion for what you do.

As a Predictor of Future Success

Grit is the strongest predictor for future success in an individual; grit overcomes wit and ability every time. Studies have proven that given a group with equal IQ scores and ability, those with grit will beat out their counterparts. Those with grit will adapt, take direction, seek to understand, and make changes to survive things that others can’t or won’t. This becomes their edge and the greatest predictor of success.

Grit is like compound interest in a money account; once you get a little, it’s easier to get more. Once you endure something difficult and adapt, or create a solution to overcome, or dig deeper, that ability never goes away. It becomes a cornerstone that any future grit is built on. Professional athletes are a great example of learning to endure, adapt, and withstand using this. They outwit and outlast competitors in the marketplace because they know how to get into a zone their competitors don’t.

You can use your past experiences to influence your current or future situations by calling on the skills you gained during those struggles such as…

• That time you had to say goodbye to a loved one
• That season with no sleep when your baby was small
• Being in boot camp or on tour during your military career
• Working menial jobs and creating a budget with little income
• Being a single parent alone with no support
• Overcoming a medical event or crisis
• Improving your credit after bankruptcy

If you’ve endured loss and came out on the other side, you’ve undoubtedly developed grit. Use these skills you learned as a platform to build your future successes on.

As a Happier Person

A by-product of grit is patience.

Grittier people have let go of the extra pettiness and develop more compassion. It gives the benefit of the doubt; it harbors no judgement, and filters things through a lens of grace. Grit creates wisdom and promotes kindness through having experienced and overcome challenges. It comes from a humble place of having seen more things and realizing that small things aren’t going to ruin your day.

People with higher levels of compassion are happier people. Refugees from war-torn countries express such gratitude and personal satisfaction later in life after having been through such horrifying events. They roll their eyes or laugh at the small things that others worry over. The term first-world problems comes from the notion that developed countries are unable to understand true suffering and challenges.

People who have seen the worst in humanity usually develop a sense of compassion and patience for what it takes to walk through the difficult things in life. They find joy easily in small things and worry less about things that stress those who haven’t struggled.

Likewise, those who have had to dig deep to survive a challenge have learned to embrace the pain that comes with this gain. Those people who have developed those skill sets had:

• Discipline
• Focus
• Organization
• Sacrifice
• Stamina
• Fortitude

People with grit see an outcome as a marathon. They don’t demand or expect immediate gratification. They recognize that some blood, sweat, and tears are going to be shed along the way.

Grit is the prize that is won for sacrifice and endurance. The by-product is the happiness that comes from knowing something that others simply don’t. Being able to let go and let others be who they are going to be without it having a direct impact on you is a powerful place to be. This comes from having grit and patience.

Who are some of the happiest people you know? Chances are they have been through something that created the gift of grit. That experience has given them a perspective that creates happiness.

Stretching Your Grit Muscles through Passion

Grit and passion go hand-in-hand.

Passion begins where mere interest ends. Passion can be an innate urge to express yourself, which is the case for art or writing. Passion can also come from being driven by something outside of yourself, like in social justice. In either scenario, passion can be strengthened by stretching your grit “muscle”.

Having an innate passion allows for the development of the grit muscle by requiring the discipline and focus to carry out whatever you’re passionate about. Whatever the passion, there’ll be sacrifice required.

Young gymnasts often reach a crossroads in their training where they must make choices to take their potential and talent to a higher level. The hours of practice, the commitment to low-calorie diets, and strict social or family boundaries are all part of the sacrifice. Practicing with the pain of strained muscles and enduring the grueling regimen to become the precise physical beings they are requires levels of grit that many of us can only imagine.

A family member who has experienced a social injustice may be compelled to work for change; however, they’ll have to commit to levels of scrutiny and working against a system that pushes back to make a dent in the status quo. Starting a new foundation or challenging an archaic institution isn’t easy.

Grit gets us up early when we want to stay in bed. It makes the decision to practice instead of dinner with friends. Grit allows us to withstand criticisms by people who want to see us fail. Grit pardons the offenders, gives wisdom to the unexplainable, and seeks a way through roadblocks.

Take your passions to the next level. Whether it’s for the personal enjoyment of a hobby, a recreational experience, or the mission to change the way the world engages with a purpose dear to your heart. All require grit and strength to rise to your best self.

Be willing to flex your grit muscle and grow bit by bit as you become a better, grittier version of yourself. You can achieve anything.

All of us who are starting or growing our businesses are displaying this – with passion and patience, hopefully some happiness and success. Besides liking the way the word sounds, I think grit is one of the most important traits needed in our endeavors right now.

So, keep on pushing forward and keep exercising your grit muscles!

Have a wonderful day!

Loving Life—The Reboot!

Dominique