Grit

Everything worthwhile in life involves grit. Some call it will, others perseverance, and still others drive. If you’re weird, you call it ‘being a dawg.’

Either way, these words refer to the same idea.

Many times in my life, I need to do something that I don’t want to do. Sometimes it’s finishing my homework late after a long day at work. Other times, it’s continuing my habit of reading. And honestly, sometimes it’s putting my full effort into writing The Hemingway Post when I could half-ass it.

No matter the case, there is a similarity in all these situations. I’m rarely confused about what I need to do. I know I need to finish my homework, read, write The Hemingway Post, or whatever else.

The problem is the external circumstances that cause me to say, “But I don’t want to.”

The question at play here isn’t, “What should I do?” Rather, “Should I follow how I feel or what needs to be done to continue progressing?”

And what spans the bridge between feelings and duty?

Grit.

Although you can plan all you like and make it as easy as possible to make progress in your life, there will inevitably be off days. Days where the couch looks much better than the desk.

You need to dig your heels in and do what is necessary rather than rely on fleeting feelings to base decisions on. And like most things in life, this is a skill.

As David Goggins says, you must “callous your mind” so it is prepared for these uncomfortable situations in the future.

It’s easy to stay on track on a 100% day. But you must callous your mind so you can do the same thing on 70, 40, and 10% days.

I urge you to practice this skill. Do something voluntarily difficult this week so you’re better prepared for the inevitable off days. This will build your grit and perseverance, and you’ll start to nurture that ‘dawg’ in you.

Keep making progress. Change for the better. Live the Heming-way.

Til next time,

Trevor