Maybe some of you have seen Scott Burrows speak. He has an amazing story of how he overcomes a debilitating injury and proves just about everyone – even himself – wrong about what his life is going to be like after this terrible accident. (If you’ve not seen Scott, check him out on YouTube… and be sure to watch to the end).
In his talks, Scott speaks about grit and I really liked the simple way in which he describes it – as your passion to persevere. Grit is what keeps us going.
How often in our lives do we run into challenges? It’s probably fair to say we run into challenges every day and probably multiple times each day. It could be something small as running out of milk when you’re getting your cereal in the morning or something major like a serious health issue or losing your job.
If there’s a constant in our lives, it’s that things will not always go as planned. But it’s how we choose to deal with that adversity that that will define who we are. It’s in these times where your personal grit comes in.
When something starts to fail, it’s important not to give up too soon. Scott makes the point that he is always willing to fail but never willing to quit. It is that perseverance to stand back up, dust ourselves off and learn from what has just happened that makes us into winners in the long run.
I can remember several very difficult times in my work life where I just wanted to give up, to walk away and let someone else deal with this seemingly overwhelming situation. I would even indulge myself in picturing what it would be like to quit and suddenly be free of all the headache and the stress. But then I took that mental vision a few steps further into the future and thought about how I’d feel in a few weeks or months, I realized that the sense of failure from walking away would far exceed the sense of daily failure I was going through in that moment.
So I wasn’t happy where things were at but I knew I wouldn’t be happy quitting. As a result, I ended up shifting my perspective and started looking at different ways to tackle these issues. I sought counsel from trusted advisers, I wrote out what was happening to help myself organize my thoughts and I always ended up setting near-term goals that would both to guide my steps but also to give a sense of accomplishment and forward movement. That’s when I started to get traction and made real progress towards resolving the core issue.
As long as we are alive and breathing, we are going to face obstacles. It’s a simple truth. But every obstacle also gives us an opportunity to overcome and improve ourselves because of the experience. It is that true grit to continue on that makes us better. Never forget that and never lose sight of your own inner resilience.
Know that I’m pulling for you!
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