Good morning awesomeness! As we’re all likely involved in some transformative experience this time of year, I thought I’d write about what the modern-day scientists say is the #1 predicting factor of success, drumroll please…..it is GRIT! Yes, this is the number one trait that sets the successful people aside from the rest.
This really resonated with me because I could completely relate. If you were to ask people who know me they’d tell you that grit and perseverance are part of my DNA, my inner game. When I set my eyes on a target that’s important to me, I will move mountains to make it happen.
So what is grit? Wiki says it’s a “trait based on an individual’s passion for a particular long-term goal or end state, coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective. This perseverance of effort promotes the overcoming of obstacles or challenges that lie within a gritty individual’s path to accomplishment, and serves as a driving force in achievement realization.”
I’d add to it that it’s the ability to stay with it. To keep pushing through the discomfort you’re faced with. To actually show up daily and give yourself fully. To show up at your best every flipping time. Grit comes from a place of inner knowing that you value your dream/desire & your integrity more than your comfort. GRIT IS THE ENERGY NEEDED TO FOLLOW YOUR TRUTH.
GOT GRIT?
If the answer is “not so much” here are a few insights that may help you build it up. The old saying “no pain no gain” has so much truth to it. Where there is no discomfort there is no growth. We only grow when we start to exist outside of our comfort zones. Fulfilled people know that struggle & discomfort are evidence of progress and so they’ve gotten to be really really good at feeling comfortable with discomfort. This is one of their signature strengths. They don’t run from it, they power through it because they know that on the other side of it they will feel happy and satisfied when they look back on the progress they’ve made. Sometimes to get to the beautiful rose you have to make it past the thorns first.
If we were to have a moment of truth right now, I’d say that if you actually want your dreams & deepest desires to come true, you have to accept that you’re gonna be more challenged than ever before. It’s gonna be awkward, different, unpleasant, uncomfortable but who says it has to be hard? Hard is a label that is created by our thoughts & beliefs. If we start small and accept that we’ll be terrible at it at first we can build up from there. Being terrible at something is the first step to being really really good at it when we combine it with persistence.
I often wonder why so many people chose to stay stuck in this loop of trying to avoid discomfort? Why more people aren’t committed to upgrading their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual levels and evolving to go beyond their comfort zone to actualize their full potential and to create the best version of themselves?
I see so many people defaulting to a comfortable life…a life where they don’t have their heart pounding… a life where they’re not pushing for the things they ACTUALLY want. I think the reason why is simple… somewhere along their life they’ve acquired a limiting belief that we should avoid suffering and discomfort at all cost.
This is such a common belief but such an easy one to blast through. The bottom line is, discomfort doesn’t kill us! Life will be full of ups and down, it’s designed that way. We can embrace both types of experiences as ultimately they both have positive outcomes. We either feel elated or we grow. We can use the pain that we’ve experienced and turn it into SELF CONFIDENCE & PURPOSE. Once we get through the pain we see that not only did it not destroy us, it made us stronger, both emotionally or physically. We know what’s on the other side of it…PROGRESS!
If you ain’t’ got grit, dig deeply my friends and find it. I promise you it’s in there. It’s on the other side of of the belief that we should never suffer. The other side where we accept that life includes suffering, but that suffering can lead to tremendous growth. Isn’t that one of our life’s purposes? To continue to evolve? I believe it is. I will close with this awesome quote from Dolly Parton:
Above everything else I’ve done, I’ve always said I’ve had more guts than I’ve got talent.
– Dolly Parton
Have a lovely day my friends!
Love & light,
Dee
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