Grit
I recently was catching up on old episodes of the Trail Runner Nation podcast and listened to the episode called "Grit: That Space Between Giving Up and Going All In". Not only was I fascinated by the topic, but I really related to much of the dialogue on the podcast.
The podcast was based upon the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. I immediately added this to my kindle list and also headed over to the author's grit test to see how I rated on the Grit Scale. I already had a suspicion as to where I would fall. Not surprisingly, I scored very high.
The thing is, I know that I am a gritty person. While I sometimes curse myself for being gritty as it has probably hurt me in personal and work situations, in distance running, it has been nothing but a positive. Sometimes I get crazy looks and comments thrown my way when I verbally commit to a goal that is scarier than the last one. I don't think people always understand what drives someone to constantly attain for something hard and scary. One of the topics that Billy Yang describes in his latest amazing movie, The Why, is that humans are now conditioned to search for comfort. Why make yourself feel pain and discomfort when it is so easy to choose what is easy and feels good? I believe that those who have grit choose the hard path, but the rewards are always worth it. When we work hard every day for a long period of time to attain a large goal, we always learn something in the process. Even if we don't finish our race or achieve the time we want, we still grow and learn as people.
What I related to most was the notion that effort counts more than skill. As someone who is not a fast runner, will never qualify for Boston, and usually finishes in the back of the pack, it would be easy to say that I should stick to "safe races" and try to work on improving my speed in shorter races. Yet I still work hard every day towards goals that are huge and scary. I train just as hard as someone who will finish a race in half the time it may take me to finish. If I didn't have grit, I would probably just give up. Yet I fight every day to make progress towards the goals that I have, and to finish races that sometimes seem impossible. Some of the people I admire most don't necessarily have raw talent, but they have a willingness to succeed and an attitude of "never giving up" that makes them heroes to me.
Lastly, I like the idea that grit can be learned. We can become more gritty by spending time with those who have grit. I completely agree with this as I find myself becoming more gritty as I spend more time running with those who are of a similar mindset. I don't believe I would have committed to ultra distances if it were not for watching others around me achieve their dreams. It is not to say that I complete races because I want to do what others do, rather it is their ability to set a goal and follow through on that goal that I admire. This also brings hope; if you are not a gritty person, you can become more gritty just by deciding who to spend your time with. If you surround yourself with others who support and believe in you and push you to do things you are not comfortable with, grit will come.
I'd love to know, what is your grit score?
The podcast was based upon the book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. I immediately added this to my kindle list and also headed over to the author's grit test to see how I rated on the Grit Scale. I already had a suspicion as to where I would fall. Not surprisingly, I scored very high.
The thing is, I know that I am a gritty person. While I sometimes curse myself for being gritty as it has probably hurt me in personal and work situations, in distance running, it has been nothing but a positive. Sometimes I get crazy looks and comments thrown my way when I verbally commit to a goal that is scarier than the last one. I don't think people always understand what drives someone to constantly attain for something hard and scary. One of the topics that Billy Yang describes in his latest amazing movie, The Why, is that humans are now conditioned to search for comfort. Why make yourself feel pain and discomfort when it is so easy to choose what is easy and feels good? I believe that those who have grit choose the hard path, but the rewards are always worth it. When we work hard every day for a long period of time to attain a large goal, we always learn something in the process. Even if we don't finish our race or achieve the time we want, we still grow and learn as people.
What I related to most was the notion that effort counts more than skill. As someone who is not a fast runner, will never qualify for Boston, and usually finishes in the back of the pack, it would be easy to say that I should stick to "safe races" and try to work on improving my speed in shorter races. Yet I still work hard every day towards goals that are huge and scary. I train just as hard as someone who will finish a race in half the time it may take me to finish. If I didn't have grit, I would probably just give up. Yet I fight every day to make progress towards the goals that I have, and to finish races that sometimes seem impossible. Some of the people I admire most don't necessarily have raw talent, but they have a willingness to succeed and an attitude of "never giving up" that makes them heroes to me.
Lastly, I like the idea that grit can be learned. We can become more gritty by spending time with those who have grit. I completely agree with this as I find myself becoming more gritty as I spend more time running with those who are of a similar mindset. I don't believe I would have committed to ultra distances if it were not for watching others around me achieve their dreams. It is not to say that I complete races because I want to do what others do, rather it is their ability to set a goal and follow through on that goal that I admire. This also brings hope; if you are not a gritty person, you can become more gritty just by deciding who to spend your time with. If you surround yourself with others who support and believe in you and push you to do things you are not comfortable with, grit will come.
I'd love to know, what is your grit score?
Comments
Post a Comment