MINDSET FOR MUSCLE #2 | GRIT
How To Maintain Focus Towards Your Goals
Life is full of obstacles, setbacks, and failures, and it's easy to become discouraged and give up. However, individuals who develop grit have the determination and resilience to keep pushing forward, even in the face of adversity. In this episode, we deconstruct the idea of Grit and learn how to develop it in your everyday life.
LINKS TO EPISODE HIGHLIGHTS
- What Grit means and how it helps individuals achieve long-term goals
- A 4 Step Process To Develop More Grit
- A tool used by retired Navy Seal David Goggins to persevere in the face of hardship
- Psychologist Victor Frankl's observations on how prisoners found motivation and strength to endure the hardships of concentration camps
- The mindset of UFC featherweight champion Alexander Volkanovski when he’s fighting off a submission attempt in a championship fight
- How you can use these tools to push through your comfort zone and develop more Grit for yourself
What Is Mindset For Muscle?
In this series we aim to uncover ideas and tips which can help develop your mindset and find motivation for your fitness journey. This includes deconstructing the character traits which can lead to greater success in life.
The Value Of Grit
WHAT IS GRIT?
Grit is a trait that refers to a person's perseverance and determination to achieve long-term goals despite challenges and setbacks. It is the ability to push through difficult times and maintain focus on a particular objective.
WHY IS GRIT IMPORTANT?
An example may help to explain why Grit is important. If we use the example of two individuals who are trying to complete a gym plan. One with high grit, one with low grit:
❌ The individual with low grit doesn’t push themselves in the gym. They often skip workouts and find excuses to not eat healthily because they don’t feel like it at the time. They succumb to other commitments pressuring them to miss the gym and they find it easier to eat unhealthy foods. In the evenings, they find themselves scrolling social media and watching Netflix instead of working out. They have no resolve to push through to follow their programme. Inevitably they get poor results.
✅ On the other hand, the individual with high grit makes sure to go to the gym, especially when they don’t feel like it. They push themselves to complete those last reps to really stress the muscle. They are able to keep a schedule of healthy foods consistently - even when tempted by friends, a grumbling stomach or that bar of chocolate they know is waiting for them in the cupboard. The individual with high grit followed through on the programme and was able to get the results they wanted even when it was difficult.
We can see how the results achieved at the end of the programme would be completely different for those two individuals (assuming most other factors, like genetics, access to healthy foods, equipment, etc, was similar). The individual who maintained a strong work ethic, mental toughness, and a willingness to keep going even when things got tough achieved what they wanted in the long term.
Life is full of obstacles, setbacks, and failures, and it's easy to become discouraged and give up. However, individuals who develop grit have the determination and resilience to keep pushing forward, even in the face of adversity. Therefore, Grit is important because it helps individuals overcome challenges and achieve long-term goals.
So the question is, how do we develop more grit?
The 4 Step Process To Develop More Grit
STEP 1 - DEFINE WHAT TASK YOU'RE TRYING TO COMPLETE
Firstly, it's helpful to define what task you’re trying to complete and what action steps need to be completed to achieve that Goal. It's best to give a numerical target, as this gives a key performance indicator (KPI) which we can measure our progress against. For example:
Goal: Build Muscle
Action Step: Go to the gym consistently
KPIs: Gym 4 times a week and eat 4 meals a day. Complete for 4 weeks
Goal: Become The Top Salesmen In Firm
Action Step: Make a higher volume of sales calls
KPI: Complete 100 calls per day, for 4 weeks
Whatever the goal, be clear about what you’re going after and how you can achieve it. Identify a key metric (or 2-3 KPIs) which are directly tied to the success of that task. This will keep you on track towards achieving the larger goal and give you a measurment of your progress.
However, this is often easier said than done. We might logically commit ourselves to a target, but depending on our mood in any given day, we might find ourselves struggling to meet those KPIs. That’s where step 2 comes in.
STEP 2 - FIND YOUR 'EDGE'
An "edge" refers to the boundary or limit of your comfort zone, beyond which lies the potential for growth, learning, and achievement. It is the point where you feel challenged and slightly uncomfortable, but not so far outside of your comfort zone that you feel overwhelmed or unable to cope.
For example, in the gym, your edge is the point at which your muscle starts to feel pain and you want to stop, but you can do more reps if you pushed. The 'edge' is the point when you start to feel resistance - this is the boundary of your current capabilities.
The ‘edge’ is an important concept when related to Grit, as it’s the point those fears, doubts and excuses start to creep in. The point at which many others would quit and where you need to push forward in order to achieve your goals. Where your logical long term desires have to compete with the emotions of short term gratification. It’s important to be mindful of this ‘edge’ while you’re in it, as this is the make or break moment when developing your Grit.
Although you don’t want to push yourself to breaking point! Expanding your potential often requires pushing past your edge, as it involves stretching beyond your current abilities to open up your capacity in the future.
STEP 3 - USE THESE TOOLS TO EXPAND YOUR COMFORT ZONE
Identifying and pushing past your edge can be a powerful tool for personal growth and development, as it allows you to challenge yourself, build resilience, and achieve your full potential. Below are a few tools for fighting your edge and pushing through when things get difficult:
Tool 1: Reach Into Your Cookie Jar
David Goggins is an American retired Navy SEAL, ultramarathon runner, triathlete, and motivational speaker. It's fair to say he's the poster boy for grit.
He developed the concept of the "cookie jar" to help him persevere through difficult times. The cookie jar is a metaphorical representation of all the positive experiences, accomplishments, and moments of personal victory that a person has had in their life. These experiences can range from small achievements like completing a workout to major accomplishments like completing a marathon. Or in Goggin's case, completing his 'hell week' to qualify as a Navy Seal.
For more insights, follow Goggins on Instagram here.
When facing challenges or adversity, Goggins encourages people to reach into their "cookie jar" and draw strength from these positive experiences.
An example: during a race, an experienced marathon runner starts to feel exhausted and doubts their ability to finish. They remember their previous 10 marathons where they pushed through a similar challenge and ended up finishing. They picture this experience as a "cookie" in their mental cookie jar, and draw on it for inspiration and motivation. With renewed determination, they push through the fatigue and finish the race strong. They also add a new cookie into their jar for next time.
By reflecting on past successes and using them as motivation, individuals can overcome self-doubt and push through difficult situations. You can reflect "I've done XXX which was much harder. I can do this no problem". In essence, the cookie jar is a reminder of what you're capable of achieving and can be a powerful tool to help you overcome obstacles and stay motivated.
Tool 2: Know Your Why
Victor Frankl was an Austrian neurologist, psychiatrist, and Holocaust survivor who developed the concept of "logotherapy," which emphasizes the importance of finding meaning and purpose in life. Frankl believed that having a strong sense of purpose and meaning is essential for mental health and well-being, and also provided intrinsic motivation during life’s hardships.
Discover Frankl's book "Man's Search For Meaning" here.
While surviving life in a concentration camp during the Holocaust, Frankl discovered those who died often lacked a sense of meaning or reason to keep living. However, those who had a strong enough ‘why’ could endure the pain and torture of the concentration camp as they had a reason to live after the war.
In logotherapy, Frankl identified three main forms of motivation:
1) Meaningful work. By engaging in work or creative activities that are personally meaningful, individuals can find a sense of purpose and fulfillment in their lives.
2) Love and relationships. By connecting with others and forming meaningful relationships, individuals can find a sense of belonging and purpose worth suffering for.
3) Courage in the face of suffering: By finding meaning in even the most difficult and challenging experiences, individuals can develop a sense of resilience and purpose that can help them navigate future challenges. (Similar concept to Goggins' Cookie Jar)
Although an extreme example, Frankl's concept of logotherapy emphasizes the importance of finding meaning and purpose in life as a source of motivation and well-being. The deeper and more meaningful your ‘why’ in life, the more grit you’ll have at your disposal to endure hardship.
Learn more about Volkanovski's story here.
For example, UFC fighter Alexander Volkanovski was in a championship defence of his featherweight belt against Brian Ortega. Volkanovski found himself defending two deep submission attempts, including a head lock which would cause most people to tap out or pass out. In a post fight interview, Volkanovski said he used the imagery of his family in that moment to power through the pain and give himself motivation to keep fighting “I thought of my family in that darkest time, where the lights were dimming... this belt might not go back to my family if I don’t [get out of this submission]”. Volkanovski’s greater purpose and desire to provide for his family helped him overcome these submission attempts and go on to win the fight.
By identifying and pursuing sources of meaning and purpose, individuals can find the motivation and resilience needed to overcome challenges and achieve their goals.
The "know your why" concept, as it relates to grit and working out, is about understanding the deeper reasons why you want to achieve a particular goal and using this as motivation when you're experiencing hardship to push through your edge. It might not be enough to simply write down your goal one day and expect to achieve it; it’s helpful to understand the underlying motivation and purpose behind that goal. By focusing on the deeper meaning and purpose behind your desire to be fit and healthy, you can tap into a powerful source of intrinsic motivation that can help you stay committed to your goal over the long term.
STEP 4 - RINSE AND REPEAT
Pushing your limits and finding your edge on a task requires you to step outside of your comfort zone and challenge yourself, which can even be painful at times. However, as you continue to push yourself, you develop greater competence and resilience which leads to the development of grit.
Step 4 is the acknowledgement the journey is never over and you need to keep pushing your edge to progress further in life.
“The weights never get lighter, you just get stronger”
The great thing about this process is it can work for anyone, at any time, because we're all on our own journey. Pushing your edge is often not some herculean task where you're trying to compete with the toughest in the world, like going head to head with Goggins or Volkanovski. It's trying to find your own personal best at any given task, on any given day, and trying to push yourself a little bit more than before. So don't beat yourself up if you don't hit your targets everyday, or stick perfectly to your plans. Just re-group and recharge and you can always try again tomorrow.
As you become more competent in your chosen task, you'll find the challenges become more complex and demanding. However, you'll also find that you're better equipped to handle them. If you're consistently finding and pushing your edge, over the long run you'll push to a place which was impossible to your former self.
As you put in more reps, you build up a reservoir of resilience and determination, and you're able to draw upon it when you need it most. You may still experience fear and self-doubt, but with continued experience you'll know how to manage those feelings and channel them into productive action.
CONCLUSIONS
Developing grit is important because it helps individuals overcome challenges and achieve long-term goals. Those with high levels of grit often achieve their goals, while those with low grit often do not.
In order to develop Grit for ourselves, it helps to identify a Key Performance Indicator (KPI). This gives us a medium we can improve upon and measure our progress against.
While chasing these ever increasing KPIs, we will inevitably reach a point which stretches our current capabilities and moves us out of our comfort zone - we call this our 'edge'. Expanding your potential often requires pushing past your edge, as it involves stretching beyond your current abilities to open up your capacity in the future.
While battling our edge, we can use tools to combat our human need to seek comfort: 1) to think back on our previous successes to remind ourselves we can overcome our current situation, an exercise put forward by David Goggins as 'reaching into your cookie jar' 2) Discover a deeper reason why you want to achieve your goal. For example, in the pursuit of completing your life's work or to suffer for a loved one. A process called 'logotherapy' as developed by psychologist Victor Frankl.
Over time, if you're consistently finding and pushing your edge, you'll push to a place which was impossible to your former self.
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