Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Do you have grit? I imagine that most people like to think they do, but maybe I am projecting, because I want to be gritty. I can point to numerous situations in my life that have called for grit, times when I persevered. There have also been times when I quit. Times when I dropped one goal for another, games I lost, balls I dropped. Does that mean I don’t have it?
This post is a sort of two-fold review. I listened to Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance. It has been on my list for a while, because I like the idea that success is not all about talent and opportunity. When Susan Peirce Thompson of Bright Line Eating decided to offer a course to help people deal with the global pandemic crisis, she called it Bright Line Grit and alluded to Duckworth’s definition. I signed up for the six week course and I downloaded the audiobook.
What did I learn?
About Grit
Angela Duckworth is a researcher. Bright Line Eaters love our research, so this is a great book for the community. There are lots of examples of what Grit means and how it is measured, but my favorite story in the book is about a fellow researcher. He has been working on a lifelong research project. He definitely seems like someone who has grit, but he admits that he doesn’t look at a crossword puzzle long before the checks the key for the answers. The good news for me here was that grit isn’t all or nothing. It doesn’t mean being relentlessly persistant about all things, always. There’s that important component of passion. If something is meaningful to you, you stick it out. If it’s not, you probably drop it so you can devote more time and energy to something that lights your fire. That’s grit!
About Bright Line Eating
The BLE Grit course is co-taught by Susan Peirce Thompson and Everett Considine. Everett is a parts work (IFS) practitioner. I’ve been introduced to his work through BLE, but I prevoiusly found myself resistant to the work. It came easier during the Grit course. This course is built specifically for the COVID-19 pandemic time frame but intended to work for anyone in a time of crisis. I wished I had the course 6 or 8 months ago, but I am grateful that it arrived when it did.
I had been in a cycle of self-criticism for letting some parts of my program fall away while I was dealing with some major life crisis stuff. I knew I was doing my best at every given moment, but my inner critic part didn’t want to cut me any slack. Between the parts work and Susan’s coaching, I was able to get my lines shiny bright. I simplified my morning and evening routines to allow for the excessive exhaustion I have been experiencing.
The most effective things about the Bright Line Grit program were also some of the most simple. Write your food down the night before. Commit it to someone. Eat that. These are the first things I did in BLE three and a half years ago. The added component of sitting with my feelings and acknowledging what was coming up. It clicked really well right now. I know I will cycle through ups and downs with my program, and that’s okay, as long as I stay gritty.
About Myself
I waited until I was finished with the book and the BL Grit course before I took Angela Duckworth’s grit scale quiz. I scored 3.5 on a 1 to 5 scale. I am fairly gritty. This affirms what I thought about myself. I think I might have scored higher if I felt passionate about more things, but I’m selective about where I apply my perseverance. I spent seven years going back to school to finish my degree while working full time and being a single mom. That took grit. There are some big examples like that, but there are also things like when I committed to the read harder challenge. When I finish a book in time for book club. Taking tap dancing lessons. I also think I might have scored myself higher on a few questions if I hadn’t just ended a serious long term relationship. Will I quickly walk away from something that no longer serves me? Yes. 100%. No looking back. And the question about finishing what I start might have gotten me extra points if I wasn’t staring at a half-painted wall… which I *will* finish… eventually.
The real lesson here is that I am gritty enough. I am gritty when it counts. I also reserve the right to change my mind, change my path, and set new goals. The book and the program both emphasize that grit is about long term goals. For many years my goal in life was just to live until both of my kids were 18 so that no one could separate them. My goals do tend to be more about personal fulfillment than traditional ideas of success. I am starting another online course. I am working towards being debt free. I am saving for retirement. I am a Bright Lifer. I am a lifestyle member at Pure Barre. I am one book ahead of my reading goal for the year. After all of this exploration, I fell really good about the power of my passion and perseverance.
Leave a comment and let me know what you’re gritty about!