When I was at school all I ever wanted was to be good at everything. I wanted to be prefect. I wanted to be friends with the popular kids and I wanted to get A’s for every class. I thought I deserved all of this too.
When I got to University I soon realised that being smart in your High School and smart in your University are two very different things. Now the pond was that much larger and the level of intelligence required to be the best felt very intimidating and unattainable. Really, I was being silly. You don’t need to be the best. You just need to be YOUR best.
After University and out in the “real world” I’ve learned that nobody cares if you were head girl. Nobody cares if you got 85% on your final year Maths Paper. GRIT. Grit is what you want and grit is what you need. What is grit – mental toughness and the ability to push through.
The 4 C’s
You will need these in order to be gritty.
Confidence – You have to believe in yourself or nobody else will.
Challenge – embrace new opportunities instead of resisting them.
Control – you must understand you have the power to shape your own destiny.
Commitment – you must set goals and then work towards them.
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional Intelligence means you don’t get swung around by your emotions. You know when and how to use and manage them. This means:
• Not being a perfectionist.
• Having a work-life balance.
• Not being easily distracted.
• Being empathetic.
• Knowing your strengths and weaknesses.
• Being self-motivated.
• Setting hard boundaries.
Lack of Entitlement
We all deserve to be happy and successful but that doesn’t mean we’re entitled to it or that it will come easily. You won’t be handed a successful career, relationship or enterprise because you are awesome, you’ll have to be patient, work hard and earn it.
Flexibility
Things in life almost always don’t go according to our personal plotted plan. We have to reroute many times in the process in order to reach our goal along the way. If you want to do well, often you will need to change direction, change your role or skill set, pick up some extra shifts and be flexible enough to come up with new solutions to problems.
Learn from the past but don’t stay in the past
You can’t change the past, but you must learn from it. It is what it is and dwelling there never brings it back. Pick up the pieces and move on because new things are on the horizon.
Stay Calm
Angry or overly emotional responses don’t help you in business. Nope. Sorry. Keep it together. Learn to manage your stress with insight and maturity. Be calm and collected and you will deal with situations fair easier.
Don’t Complain
It’s normal to vent at times, but once things have been said then you need to pick yourself up and move onwards. Complaining gets us nowhere. Keep it to a minimum.
Have a Sense of Urgency
Don’t sit back and let things sweep you along. Be the wave, get up and create an impact. Businesses don’t build themselves and careers don’t create themselves. It’s all on you-boo.
Are Consistent
“It’s great starting a business, but can you keep it going? It’s great to talk about mental toughness, grit, and perseverance … but what do those things actually look like in the real world?,” – James Clear: author, entrepreneur, and photographer.
In a word, toughness and grit equal consistency.
They’re Grateful and Appreciative
Innovation is born out of scarcity. Instead of looking at what we don’t have, we need to learn to look at what we do. Where can we cut corners? Where can we increase sale? Who can we contact? Who we haven’t contacted?
Remember grit is all up to you – it’s what will determine a lot of your success and it’s free. Don’t look to talent all the time. Look to God, let him develop the things inside you which we call “grit” and be brave.