On Grit
Okay… So, what’s the other thing we need to succeed?
What beats out the greatest natural talent, or the most money?
What is accessible to everyone in the world no matter what their situation that can and
will lead to huge success?
If you don’t want to read, feel free to watch video below.
If you do love reading, let’s get back to it…
Well the answer is perseverance my friend, or as some call it grit, or ‘staying power’ the ability to not give up so easily as everyone else.
The number one reason most people fail, is because they give up to freaking easily and more importantly too soon.
Something’s not working on the first or second try? Oh I guess it wasn’t meant to happen for me oh well.
Then we sit and complain about why we can’t have what we want.
At first I thought of all the stories of famous people in history that didn’t give up. Here are a few of the main ones you may have seen them before! (True inspiration either way!) I love reading.
These stories when I’m having trouble getting myself to keep going.
Stephen King
His first thriller Carrie, received 30 rejections, finally causing him to give up and throw it in the trash. His wife fished it out and encouraged him to re-submit it.
Now having hundreds of books published he has the distinction of being one of the greatest, best-selling authors of all time.
J. K. Rowling
Rowling may be rolling in a lot of Harry Potter dough today, but before she published the series of novels she was nearly penniless, severely depressed, divorced, trying to raise a child on her own while attending school and writing a novel.
Rowling went from depending on welfare to survive to being one of the richest women in the world in a span of only five years through her hard work and determination.
Plus she was rejected by 12 different publishers!
Thomas Edison
In his early years, teachers told Edison he was “too stupid to learn anything.” Work was no better, as he was fired from his first two jobs for not being productive enough. Even as an inventor, Edison made 1,000 unsuccessful attempts at inventing the light bulb.
Of course, all those unsuccessful attempts finally resulted in the design that worked. He looked at it from the point of “I didn’t fail, I just learned one more way NOT to make a light bulb”.
Orville and Wilbur Wright
These brothers battled depression and family illness before starting the bicycle shop that would lead them to experimenting with flight.
After numerous attempts at creating flying machines, several years of hard work, and tons of failed prototypes, the brothers finally created a plane that could get airborne and stay there.
Kernel sanders of Kentucky Fried Chicken
He tried to franchise his restaurant. His recipe was rejected 1,009 times before anyone accepted it! Then his “secret recipe” was coined “Kentucky Fried Chicken”, and quickly became a hit. He sold the company for two million dollars (which would have been around $15.3 million today).
Now these are big stories, and there are lots more of them. But there are also a ton of little stories that go untold!
For example:
I wanted to guest post for a popular site like Vault.com it took me 50+ tries submitting articles, and reaching out to editors before I got accepted to write for anyone.
My clients: Reaching out to people they don’t know and you know, and not getting responses right away (It takes 1 in 10 strangers) to reply to a good cold email. It takes 1 in 3 alumni to respond on average.
Jessica who went on 8 interviews (not settling for the first offer she got) which was hard. To land her Dream job as an Global Events Manager for a large Tech Company in the Bay Area.
So these big stories above are an amplification of little wins people get each day for not giving up.
You can’t fail if you don’t give up.
Learn the skills that you can see have worked for others and keep going even when it seems hopeless.
Only those who have done it know it’s true.
There is no accident when it comes to success, there is no luck. No one was born under the right start and woke up with the perfect job and the perfect life one day.
It happened because they stuck with it, and I can tell you this for a fact.
Few. People. Do.
Which type of person are you?
In Conclusion
There you have it! I hope this post let you know that not everything is black and white!
Now I’d love to hear from you! Have you ever had an epiphany, of something you were doing that may have been preventing you from moving forward in your career or your life? I’d love to hear about it in the comments.
If you’d like to dive deeper with me, click the link below to download my Free Guide “How to nail an interview you’re unqualified for?”
In this guide you’ll learn:
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How to identify the questions they’re really asking you (things are not always as they appear).
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How to tell captivating stories that trigger the interviewer to remember you above all other candidates.
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How to proactively identify an interviewer’s concerns, even when they don’t voice them out a loud.
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How to steer the interview in the direction you want it to go.
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What I say at the end of the interview to wrap it up and seal the deal.
Do you know one person who could benefit from the information I shared? If so, help someone out by sharing with them.
And remember, the current way in which most of us look for our IDEAL job these days isn’t perfect by any means, but I know you can outsmart it.
I know you have what it takes and I’ve got you covered.
I’ll see you next time and I can’t wait!
In Work & Life
I’ve Got Your Back!
-Natalie