Grit: A Reward You May Not Have Considered

A question I asked myself for over half my life:

How do you move from feeling victimized, small, and jealous of others' success to crushing your big, bold goals and being the person whose secret everyone seeks?

Wanna know how?

YOU DO IT.

You start.

You can't know what you need to improve if you don't mess it up first (a Steph life mantra).

I'd encourage you to remember that we're all beginners at something (read: we've all looked silly doing at least one thing. If you're worried you look more ridiculous than everyone else, I'll invite you to watch me attempt an agility ladder.).

Then, you practice.

Honing our crafts takes reps under the bar, after all. To learn where we thrive under the pressure and where we cower in fear, we need to set out on the path.

When looking into some research on perseverence and change, I found that the highest performers work on their weaknesses the most. Seems obvious, no?

But it's the last thing most of us want to do.

We want to avoid them, find ways around them, out-muscle our weaknesses with our strengths.

We'd do better to work on our weaknesses, try a million times and fail most of them, but getting a little better each time, until those weaknesses are not as weak, and then move on to the next one.

(There's also a lot of research saying our weaknesses can only improve so much, whereas with our strengths, we have relatively unlimited potential. So, before we go on some mission to turn me into an agile panther, let's all cut ourselves a break and acknowledge that the goal for weaknesses is to get less bad at them. Passable to good, if you will.)

The value here is in the cultivation of #grit: perseverance, belief in oneself, taking ownership of our goals.

THAT is where the magic happens.

Because, through this process, we might not be the next Flo-Jo, but we refine a work ethic. We get to know ourselves. We understand our passions and our abilities. We show up for ourselves. We approach life not like a question seeking someone else's validation, but like an answer knowing where we're headed. We expand, becoming bigger and better with every effort, and inspiring others to do the same.

How do we bounce back when we fail?
Do we recognize that success is more about the process (and the love of it) than about natural ability?
Do we have the proverbial balls to stick it out after the first, third, or tenth challenge or plateau?

Whatever your goal, it's there for a reason. It's meant to be nurtured.

xoxo,
Steph

PS- I’m opening a couple of coaching slots this coming month to help you get started! If you’re interested in snagging one, click here.