When I was younger I had more of everything you need to face a challenge. More energy, more time and more idealism. Nothing was insurmountable and everything was an exciting adventure.

These days, when I have less time, less energy and my idealistic self is a distant memory, I just need a bit more grit to keep going.

I am currently reading Grit, by Angela Duckworth, for some inspiration and it’s helping a lot. I even went on her website and did The Grit Scale. If you’re interested in how gritty I am, I got a 3.6 which I think means I’m somewhat gritty. I’ve certainly showed grit in the really tough situations of my life so far and I’ve certainly put in the time and effort in the past to achieve goals that really mattered to me, but I’m no Navy Seal.

Angela’s book is about the power of perseverance and a ‘never give up attitude.’ Her studies show that ‘grit’ is ultimately more integral to success than talent. The lesson is that sticking to something for the long term, putting in the work and pushing the flywheel so to speak, is the secret to real long term success.

You would think after two years of blogging about the same struggles with intentional living that I would have accepted that fact that I’m just going to have do some hard work.  It’s funny how the brain keeps looking for an easy alternative, like trying to convince me that sitting on the couch is going to magically make me fit.

I don’t necessarily have more grit yet, but I can tell I have lost a lot of my grit along the way and need to get some more of it. I can also remember times in my life when I had a lot more grit and how good it felt to be working towards achieving my goals.

Grit is the difference between choosing the couch or the swimming pool, or choosing to eat, or not eat the cookies.

I choose the pool.

Published by the lean minimalist

Donna Sherriff is a New Zealand based improvement and operations management specialist. Seeing a need for simple, no fuss, improvement advice she started The Lean Minimalist blog in 2017. Donna writes articles offering advice and tips for rapid and sustainable business improvement based on over 15 years in Senior Management roles. Passionate about sharing the lessons of over 20 years on the high performance track Donna offers coaching services to professionals. She also writes about her own personal improvement journey, minimalism, and her life long struggle against the tyranny of cookies and sugar which she overcame in 2020. These days, Donna is pursuing a journey to earn her black belt in Taekwondo after a long hiatus of 16 years away from training. On the side she is an amateur but passionate musician and poet. View all posts by the lean minimalist