This month, our theme is all about working through the tough stuff.

Last week, I offered three action steps to help you handle hard better. You can find that Thought Partner here if you missed it.

As I prepared to write today’s musings about Grit & Quit, I felt an overwhelming sense of deja vu, like I had just written about this topic a few months ago. A little investigation revealed that I, indeed, had written about Grit & Hustle (clearly, I have a titling pattern), but it wasn’t a few months ago, it was two years ago! This post is not about the passage of time, but honestly, where does the time go? You can read Grit & Hustle here, after you read Grit & Quit below. Similar in title; different in content.

I was helping my son study for a Social Studies quiz this week, which wasn’t going well. As “the messenger” I found myself on the receiving end of some rather targeted 10-year-old pushback. Knowing we were experiencing some “big feelings” around my prompts for him to provide me with more information and detail on the open-response questions, I tried accessing some of my professional tools and offered him questions to ask himself before finishing his responses. Questions like “Is there any more information I know about this topic?” or “Have I answered all parts of the question?” or “Have I given all the details about this event so it makes sense to another person reading it for the first time?” I’ll give you one guess as to how my helpful suggestions were received.

To say there was a disproportionate reaction to the situation might be an understatement. There were a few tears, met with the high-intensity refrain of, “I quit; I can’t do this; I’m not smart enough”. Knowing this kid’s IQ as I do, “not smart enough” is not one of his issues (it might be mine as I try to keep up with him as he grows up, but it’s not his).

Sooooo….. to keep my head from spinning around as if I had just been cast in The Exorcist, I asked him: “Where did you leave your grit? We should probably find where you put it because you’re gonna need to keep that handy.”

That seemed to stop the waterworks for a minute and produced a quizzical look in the process. To which I entered the open door and shared bits of the following…

3 Shifts to Find Your Grit When You Want to Quit:

1. Failure is not an Option – We talk a lot about the benefits of failure and the lessons we can learn when we fail,but pitching a tent at the campground of failure is not an option. It’s not an option in 5th grade, and it’s not an option in life. If what you are currently doing is not working, or you’re not getting the grade or results you want, you need to dig in and find another route to explore. Adopt the mantra “Failure is not an Option.”

2. Give Yourself a Break – Pablo Picasso said, “I am always doing that which I cannot do, in order that I may learn to do it.” Give yourself a break if something is difficult and you’re doing something you’ve not done before. Follow the 10,000-hour principle – 10,000 hours to achieve mastery in a skill set. Have you spent 10,000 hours on it yet? No, then keep going; see number 1 for a reason why. Be kind to yourself and keep going.

3. Bring it On! – (Not just a 24-year-old cult classic starring Gabrielle Union, but the attitude) Relish the challenge. Someone or something is COMING. FOR. YOU. Are you seriously going to keep your pom-poms down? Raise them and get into action! If this obstacle is in your way, your response should be, “Oh it’s already been brought-en!“

Finding the grit not to quit isn’t easy, and sometimes you need to take a moment for the emotional swells to die down. They will, and they do, and when that time comes, you may have to go looking for your grit – inside yourself. 

Forward this message to someone who needs an extra dose of inspiration today.

Fingers crossed on these Social Studies quizzes, Thought Partners! 🤞🏻