Grit is the convergence of passion and perseverance around a meaningful long-term goal. Sometimes that goal is personal growth. And when it comes to personal growth, it almost always means camping out in our discomfort zone. An amusing but insightful example of this is Jia Jiang’s story told from the TED stage: What I Learned from 100 Days of Rejection.
Jia had an unfortunate experience with public rejection as a child that marked his behavior as an adult, inhibiting him from achieving his goals. To overcome his fear of rejection, he designed a plan to approach strangers with an over-the-top request that was sure to be rejected in order to desensitize him to rejection. Be sure to check out my personal favorite at 7:30 when he requests a “burger refill” at a fast-food restaurant. Every day for 100 days he made another preposterous request seeking public rejection. That took grit! By day 100, he learned some valuable lessons and became a skilled negotiator.
How about you? Did you make a New Year’s resolution for 2019? How’s that going? If you are like most people who make resolutions, you’ve already abandoned your attempt to become a better version of yourself. It takes grit to achieve personal growth – so be sure your personal growth plan is anchored in a meaningful long-term goal that you are passionate about in order to stay motivated when the going gets tough. So don’t give up on your personal growth plan for 2019!