Grit. Stick-to- it-ness. Fortitude… there are a lot of words you can use for having the determination to stick with something long enough to see it manifest. I run in to this more times than I care to admit. I run into people who want to know why they are unfulfilled in life. Why they go through short seasons of highs but often find they must weather long seasons of lows. Why they are in the same place they were 5 years ago. Maybe a different job, maybe a different town, or even different people in their lives, but ultimately, they are the in the same rut.
I believe that most people are not satisfied because they don’t know they joy of seeing something through to the end. The fulfillment that comes from accomplishment. This is a real thing. When you start a project you feel excitement. You want to talk about it; your mind is moving 100 miles an hour of all the possibilities your new venture can bring. When you finish a project, you feel accomplished and excited and proud that something you worked hard on was completed. Both of these feelings give you a lasting sense of happiness and joy…for some, too much happiness. We have all seen someone who “relives the glory days.” This comes from them having one accomplishment or a string of accomplishments in one period of their life and then never pushing past those efforts towards their next accomplishment.
We know we get excitement on one end of a project and happiness on the other end of a project…but what about the middle? Most people don’t make it past the middle. They give up. They quit. When we look around at the successful people in life, we realize that at some point, they pushed through where most stopped. Most get the short burst of excitement. Most get the spark of new ideas and new possibilities. Most do not get the lasting feeling of happiness because they allow every circumstance, uncomfortable situation and issue stop them from moving on to the completion phase.
This is biological. Don’t believe me? When you work to accomplish something, Dopamine kicks in. Dopamine, which is tied to adrenaline and noradrenaline, keeps stress at bay. It originates in the brain. The Adrenaline gives energy while the noradrenaline creates focus. Both needed to help push you towards completion of your goals. Once you reach your goal, you release Dopamine, which increase your happiness by hitting your brains reward and pleasure sensors. When you start a project, you get a short kick of endorphins before the obstacles come. But the longer lasting effects are released after the completion of a goal when your brain released Dopamine. This happens each time your complete something you wanted. Yet so many start and do not finish, and thus experience the fleeting sense of happiness that they get from the Endorphins.
How does this help you grow? Well, as a business owner, this cannot be you. <— This is a period. If this is you, you are not cut out for business ownership. Trials meet every business owner, and if you can’t navigate through the tough times, you are wasting your time and the time of others.
Typically I leave tips behind to help you move forward in your business. However, I don’t think any tips I’ve ever found relating to grit have been relevant. No amount of accountability or reward systems you set up can take the place of your ability to stick out the tough times to make it to the other side of a goal or project. You have to want it bad enough. Most don’t. Which one are you?