bcg blog

Systems: Growing Grit

It’s December 2016. Another Sunday evening with Gabe in the chilly confines of Centerville High School’s beautiful back gym. This session caps off a week full of daily workouts, middle school basketball practices, and a few games. Tonight’s workout is viewed no differently than all the rest - simply a part of the process of getting better - no single practice or game is any more, or less important, than the last. This one, it turns out, will be the exception to that rule.

The workout begins like most, focusing on the fundamentals of ballhandling and footwork. This has always been my, his, focus. Moving into the shooting portion of the workout, I introduce Gabe to a new drill. I know it’s going to be a challenge for a twelve year old, but it’s a drill designed as much for the mental aspects of competition as the technical side of basketball. I debated doing it, but I think he’s ready. 

The task: make five shots in a row from five different spots. Each spot must consist of two made catch and shoot three point shots, a one dribble pullup jump shot going to the right, a one dribble pullup jump shot going to the left, and another catch and shoot three. Five consecutive makes are required to advance to the next spot. Any miss forces a restart at that spot.

The drill is a challenge for any player. The necessity for a high level of skill is significant, but it’s the need for a resilient, gritty mentality that quickly becomes the key component for success.

I have no idea how long it will take Gabe to complete the drill. Depending on the day, a good high school player could take anywhere from ten to twenty minutes. Or, never is always a possibility.  Gabe finishes the challenge … seventy-five minutes after he started. Over an hour of restarting the same drill will make you question a lot.

What seemed like an utter failure in the moment, turned out to be one of the most beneficial workouts in Gabe’s young career as an athlete. Not for the skill he developed, but for the grit he grew.

Why Should We Care?
Angela Duckworth defines grit as “passion and perseverance for long-term goals”. I think we are born with an enormous amount of grit. I mean, when is the last time you’ve seen a toddler decide walking isn’t for him? No matter how many times he falls down, his passion and perseverance towards the long-term goal of walking never waivers. Toddlers are as gritty as it gets.

Unfortunately, the comforts and immediacy of modern society eventually undermines our ability to show the perseverance of a child. Grit requires overcoming two very important Goliath’s in the pursuit of excellence: failure and time. 

The drill mentioned above provided Gabe with plenty of opportunities to fail, which he did - over and over and over. I don’t even remember the number of times he made four shots in a row only to have his hopes of completing a spot wiped away when the fifth shot was off target. With each failure was an opportunity to show and grow grit. The same decision presented itself each time: quit or try again. He chose to try again dozens and dozens of times. And, with each decision, he reinforced the self-image of a person that is resilient and gritty. 

The time aspect of growing grit is always relative. Seventy-five minutes is not long when viewed over the course of a year, month, or even a day; but, when considered for a single drill, it feels like an eternity to a player. Gabe made the decision to dismiss quitting as an option for over an hour. It was continuously in front of him along with an unsureness that he could actually complete the task.

These are the best breeding grounds for grit: struggle, strain, failure, delayed time, the option to quit, and an unknown outcome. Continuing pushing forward in that environment and your grit is sure to grow.

REAL TALK - Action Steps
Gritty people do gritty things. People that aren’t gritty don’t - they quit or remove themselves from the situation all together. Here are a few thoughts on creating systems in your life to intentionally grow your grit.

• Lean into “Advantage Us”. 
  
  • Most people, like almost all people, are not willing to embrace doing hard things. Most will look to escape at all cost and with any excuse. Whenever adversity presents itself, think, or say, “Advantage Us”. Need to rush an order for a customer? Great. Advantage us - that’s what we do, adjust. Referees are letting the game get overly physical? Great. Advantage us - that’s what we do, compete. Major contributor on your team quits? Great. Advantage us - that’s what we do, step up. It’s always “Advantage Us”.
    

• Embrace the long game.
  
  • I think most people would consider farmers to be gritty. One of the reasons, I believe, is because a farmer’s entire life revolves around delayed gratification. Whether it’s growing crops or raising livestock, the reward is never immediate or guaranteed. A ton of work takes place between planting and harvest. The patience to stay faithful to the process is rooted in grit. Each fall the root grows a little deeper. The same can be true for us if we are willing to play the long game. Like most good things, grit requires time.
    

• Surround yourself with gritty people.
  
  • There are few truths in the world more accurate than this: you are who you surround yourself with. Want to grow in grit? Put yourself in places where the people around you consistently embrace delayed gratification, lean into the process, and suffocate excuses. You’ll start to do the same. Before long, you’ll be gritty too. Peer pressure is a real thing and it doesn’t always influence us negatively. The people we choose to have voices in our lives determine the flow of the peer pressure.
    

The cool part about grit is that when we show it, we grow it. With each gritty choice, we get that much grittier. However, we must continue choosing to be gritty because the opposite rings true as well.

Checkout Surrender the Outcome on Amazon and order The Score That Matters with Ryan Hawk & Brook Cupps. The latest blog from Blue Collar Grit can be found here!