Cultivate Your Grit

How Do You Cultivate Grit?

As you think about my last blog, "In Search of Mastery," and as you reflect on Sara Lewis' research regarding "the near miss" and life long curiosity, what does your heart secretly want for you?

What will be your own search and discovery? What do you really want from your career, your relationships, or your life generally? What are you becoming? And as you reflect on the past ten or twenty years, how have the stories of your career, relationships, or life generally strengthened who you are today?

If you made a movie of your career (including the good and the challenging parts of it), what would you call your movie? My bet is that as you reflect, you will see that ALL of it, and especially the 'challenging' parts of it, have cultivated true grit in you.

Possibly, there are no right or wrong choices in your career or life because your greatest challenges test your heart, your vision, your capacity and your faith in you.

Challenges may be the place to cultivate grit and your own resilience. Think of one of your most difficult times when you have been head ndash; to ndash; heart shaken through your core. What happened back then? Which of your values were rocked in the experience? How did you deal with that situation?

What happens in your body right now as you think about that time in your life? What do you notice?

Now consider who showed up supportively for you at the time? Why do you think they showed up? What do you notice in your body now as you think about that support system?

And now consider all of the ways that challenge strengthens you even today. Close your eyes and really let yourself feel that strength in you.

What are two strengths that you just identified?

1.  _____________________    2.  _____________________

Believe in yourself. If you can't believe in you, how can you believe in anyone else?

So really bring this home now.... What is your greatest gift? What are your greatest talents? Operationalize your strengths.

1.  ______________________  2.  _______________________

How do those abilities show up in your work? If not, what do you need to say no to so that you can say yes to what your heart really desires. What do you really want for your career? Your relationships? Your life generally?

 
If you experienced a 'near miss' in your past, what do you need to do to lock down your vision?

1. This year: ____________________________________________________
2. This month: ___________________________________________________
3. Today: _______________________________________________________

Love the 'near miss' and bring on Mastery!!