Grit is a common word in the English language. It has several different meanings. One of its meanings describes a state of mind essential for success and mental health.
Here’s the Websters English Dictionary definition for grit.
Firmness of mind or spirit: unyielding courage in the face of hardship or danger
Some people are fortunate enough to be born with grit. Others need to cultivate it. The importance of grit can’t be overstated. It can literally save your life, or protect you country from invasion. Ukraine has demonstrated to the entire world what grit looks like in the defense of one’s homeland.
You may need grit if you have some of these traits:
- You feel hopeless
- You have trouble standing up for yourself
- You’re afraid of conflict
- You’re nihilistic (You say “I don’t care” a lot)
- You don’t go outside
- You have poor health
- You prefer technology over people
- You believe you’re a victim of circumstances
- You feel like you’re observing life, rather than participating in it
In my opinion grit doesn’t stand alone, it requires a mix of emotions and character traits. When these traits are present, grit manifests its self when you need it.
Essential Ingredients of Grit:
Self-love: People who love themselves have a positive self-image. They believe they deserve good things in life and will not settle for less. Being a victim is not part of their identity, so they will resist anything that puts them in that role.
Anger: Anger has a bad reputation because many people can’t manage it. Destructive people feel weak. When they get angry and/or violent they intimidate people, and this makes them feel powerful. However, anger has a positive side too it. Anger is like fire. The anger of a successful person is slow burning. They direct the flames towards their goal and when they face an obstacle, they can turn up the heat to give themselves strength.
Optimism: When you’re optimistic you believe things will improve. You look for the silver lining in everything. Optimistic people recover quickly after bad events because they don’t get bogged down in the past.
Realistic: Anything that has value is difficult to obtain. This principle is universal and applies to all things. It is the backbone of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies that are easily obtained are less valuable than scarce ones. However, many people believe good things are supposed to come easy. A troubling attitude to have is to believe that society is the problem when things don’t come easy. You're at risk for mental health problems when you have this kind of outlook. If you expect a challenge, you will not be disappointed when you get one.
How to cultivate grit:
The only way to cultivate grit is to take responsibility for your life. It’s understandable to feel like life is too hard. You might be down on your luck. You may have gone through some tragedy that you’re seriously depressed about. But these things can’t be an excuse to stay unhappy.
You must purposely get uncomfortable. You can’t get stronger in your comfort zone. Life is unforgiving this way. If you stay in a comfortable, safe bubble you will get weaker until life becomes unmanageable.
Try to get stronger in a systematic way. Make a list of your fears, and intentionally face them one by one. Psychologists call this exposure therapy.
Physical activity is also essential. If you recognize that you need grit, I recommend martial arts. I recommend Jiu-Jitsu out of all the different types of martial arts. It would require its own blog post to explain every reason why Jiu-Jitsu is the best for cultivating grit. But just know that it is highly rewarding, and even addicting.
Finally, don’t be afraid to ask for help. Asking for help isn’t a sign of weakness, it’s a sign of strength.