Tag: Grit

Grit, Uncategorized

Beginnings, middles and endings

Beginnings

A master is someone who was once a beginner who kept beginning. Mastin KIPP

If we are going to see anything through, we need to realize that there are beginnings, middles and ends to travel through. Beginnings can be hard, especially if we are trying something new, or really challenging ourselves, like if we are starting to exercise regularly or eat healthier, or if we are starting a new job where we don’t know the things yet that will only be gained with experience. 

As I’ve learned about having a growth mindset, I remind myself of what Baron Baptiste says in his book, Journey into power, “Don’t hate beginnings”. 

I love that, I’ve tried to embody this as I challenge myself and try to “stay comfortable with discomfort.” 

Middles

If you’re tired of starting over, stop giving up. Anonymous

I trust tenacity. Rosanne Cash

I took a writing class once from a woman who has published over 20 youth fiction books. She said that every book she wrote, she would get to the middle of the story and get stuck. She said she would come out of her office and cry to her husband that she was a fake, that she was a phony, and everyone was going to see right through her. Who did she think she was?

The middle of your journey can seem like the movie Groundhog Day where you’re repeating tasks but may not have the skill or mastery that you truly want. You’re past the excitement and adventure of just starting out. Things can get a little dull or seem to not be progressing.

Here is the secret of all masters, keep choosing the same thing. Conversations with God Book 2, Neale Donald walsch

When we’re facing a beginning, or a middle, we have to keep choosing our path instead of jumping ship or choosing a new path. Every path will have peaks and valleys, sun and rainstorms. If we want mastery, we can’t keep switching paths. 

Endings

There is no end. Every journey is about the process. Once you accomplish the goal you set out to accomplish, you will look for the next mountain to climb, but if you keep the end in sight through your beginnings and your middles, you can achieve mastery along the way.

Grit

On Talent Alone

It’s not the talented that make it.

I took Drama in high school, and remember hearing this statement back then, and I didn’t believe it. Not for a second. But I remember and ponder it. I was surrounded by talented kids. I took drama because those were my peeps, but I did not have a successful high school acting career. I think I was an extra in one play, and that was because they needed someone quick, because the play was about to run. I think I attended two rehearsals, had one line, and forgot to say my line during one show because I was too engrossed in watching the play even though I was in costume and on stage. It was a wonderful career.

One of my great friends from high school has followed her acting and singing dreams, and has a successful career in NYC. I visited her recently and she was recognized and lauded for her work at more than one venue we visited. I always thought this kind of talent is the only kind that makes it.

But I heard the statement again today when I was watching Dani Shapiro’s interview on Marie Forleo’s show. Shapiro teaches a writing course and said, “many of her most talented students aren’t writing anymore.” And suddenly I got it. It’s not just talent that matters. It is also grit. It is perseverance, developing a thick skin, or as Elizabeth Gilbert says, be willing to eat a shit sandwich.