5 Components of GRIT + 6 Ways to Toughen Up Now!
(Before you reach for that big ass goal,
let’s take a peek inside your soul.)
Every time you step out of your comfort zone, it kinda sucks.
Maybe you feel nauseous.
Maybe you’re super sweaty.
Maybe you feel like you have to take a shit.
We all encounter moments of:
😫Self doubt
😫Low confidence
😫Imposter syndrome
And-plain-old-fear.
So yeah, do some digging.
Dig into the inner workings of your psyche. What is your self-talk like?
My boy Aristotle said “Courage is the first of human virtues because it makes all others possible.”
This is where knowing your why comes in. No one says it better than Simon Sinek, so I’ll let him. Here’s a link to his fabulous Why Talk, or you can just Google it.
Unlike Simon, Angela Duckworth has yet to become a household name, but she is a renowned psychologist and advisor to Fortune 500 CEOs, NFL and NBA Teams and the World Bank, among others.
Angela uses the term GRIT, which I totally love, and she defines it like this:
GRIT is
“The ability to maintain focus and interest, and persevere in obtaining long term goals.”
The ability to keep going when the going gets tough.
Being able to bounce back from failure.
Having direction and commitment.
Remember that roller coaster of emotion we talked about in Module 1 of The 3 Week Business Buying Bootcamp? I don’t beat around the bush about this work to acquire a business.
It’s tough. Period.
My best advice is to just get out there and do it.
It’s nerve-wracking, I know. I’ve been on some big stages lately. And the audience does not always look like me. Scary.
BUT you do it anyhow.
And the second time is only a little better, but by the third time, you’re at least getting used to it and eventually, you start getting good at it, if you stick with it.
This is called GRIT, and it’s what’s going to get you through the shit to the other side, and into the Winner’s Circle.
(I think I just came up with my new slogan: “Get through the SHIT with a little GRIT.” What do you think?)
GRIT is known to be THE driver of achievement and success, far more important than talent or intelligence.
Which is good news for us, because we’re probably not going to get fundamentally smarter, and we probably don’t have the business buying skills we wish we had.
Duckworth has summed up the concept of GRIT
with two equations:
Talent x Effort = Skill
Skill x Effort = Achievement
Study that a moment.
Effort. Counts. Twice.
Let's go a little deeper.
GRIT is effort combined with 5 other components:
GRIT is effort through courage.
Managing the fear of failure.
Embracing failure as part of the process.
Knowing that valuable lessons lie in defeat.
If you’re not making mistakes it’s because you’re not doing anything.
Courage is a muscle that must be used and exercised.
GRIT is effort oriented towards achievement.
Showing up is just the beginning.
You have to go for it!
Always striving to get to the next level.
GRIT is effort with follow through, guided by having specific goals.
It’s practice with purpose.
Knowing the journey is just as important as the end result.
Your goals should be based on doing the activities, the things you can control.
Not necessarily the outcomes, which you cannot control.
GRIT is effort through resilience.
Your ability to regulate your emotions.
And keep going…
Getting thrown off the horse and getting back on, literally for me as a kid.
GRIT is effort through excellence, but not perfection!
Excellence is an attitude, a way of approaching a task, approaching a goal, approaching life in general.
It’s progress over perfection because perfection is just a stall tactic.
Talent x Effort = Skill
Skill x Effort = Achievement
Effort counts twice.
“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.”
How many people do you know personally that have bought a business?
One or two? A handful? None? This is a big step.
The process is easy, of course.
Find a business on bizbuysell.com
Get an SBA loan
Pick a closing date
Sign on the dotted line and you bought a business.
It’s the mindset. It’s your level of GRIT that will determine your success.
The good news is you can develop and strengthen your GRIT and work to cultivate a growth mindset. Here are 6 baby steps you can take to toughen up now:
Pay attention to your self-talk. I’ve done a lot of public presentations lately, and if I start to feel nervous, I start repeating to myself, “This is going to be so much fun. This is going to be so much fun.”
Learning not to quit, when to quit, and yes, even how to quit.
Rather than feeling threatened by others' success, use it as motivation to grow and learn. Here’s an interesting perspective on LinkedIn.
Embrace challenges as opportunities to grow, rather than reasons to quit. It’s okay to take a breath, but keep going.
Celebrate your success AND celebrate your failures. There are lessons in both.
Use feedback as a valuable source of learning, adjusting your course as needed, but always moving forward.
Read through these 6 steps every morning when you wake up and every night when you lay down for the next few days and see how your mindset begins to shift.
Nice article, right? Who cares!? I don’t do this to provide you with bathroom or bedtime material. It’s all about taking action.
Take action now by finding out what your GRIT score is.
Respond to this email, or DM me on my socials, with the word GRIT and I’ll send you the 12 question test. It will only take a few minutes of your precious time. (Less than you’ve spent scrolling today). See where you stand on the GRIT scale and work on strengthening your own growth mindset.
Self care is all the rage, but let’s add in some daily self awareness work to shift your life into the next gear:-)
Love ya!
