Tag: #perseverence

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Incremental Daily Progress – Drip, Drip, Drip

“… incremental daily progress (negative or positive) is what actually causes transformation. A figurative drip, drip, drip. Showing up, every single day, gaining in strength, organizing for the long haul, building connection, laying track—this subtle but difficult work is how culture changes.” – Seth Godin

Today’s blog post by Seth Godin reveals the key to making change.  It’s not flashy, sexy and provocative … no, it’s ordinary, unadorned tenacity.  The kind of resolve sustained by passion.  A want so deep and strong it pulls me through the misery of tedium.  Thru the monotonous research, analysis, writing, corroboration; re-writing.  The dull study, practice, training and tweaking before more rehearsal.  If it’s worth having it’s worth the trudge.

Four years ago I read the book, Younger Next Year by Chris Crowley & Henry S. Lodge, M.D.  They told me that if I want to be vital and energetic; to maintain the get-up-and-go that gets more elusive each year – I need to stay active (“Exercise six days a week for the rest of your life”).  Oh; and I need to eat right (“Quit eating crap!”).  Two of my favorite things!  HA!  Gotta REALLY want health to make that effort.

The same goes for my education, my writing, my activism.  In his book The Dip, Seth Godin says, “The Dip is the secret to your success.  The people who set out to make it through the Dip—the people who invest the time and the energy and the effort to power through the dip—those are the ones who become the best in the world.”

“The Dip is the long slog between starting and mastery.”   

“IMPORTANT NOTE:  Successful people don’t just ride out the Dip.  They don’t just buckle down and survive it.  No, they lean into the Dip.  They push harder, changing the rules as they go.”

Not everything is “dip worthy.”  I must ask myself: am I settling for being “average”?  Am I making a difference in this rat race?  Am I living in a “cul-de-sac” AKA “dead end”?  Is my job a cul-de-sac?  What are the time wasters showing up in my life (Facebook, TV, solitaire)?

Seth encourages me to “find a Dip to conquer” – to quit the idling cul-de-sacs, quit the stuff I don’t care about; stop doing what I know I’ll only ever be mediocre at.

Life is the little things; and the “drip, drip, drip” of the Dip.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

 “Water is fluid, soft & yielding but water will wear away rock, which is rigid and cannot yield … what is soft is strong.” ― Lao Tzu

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People Get Ready

“People get ready – There’s a train a-coming.” ― Curtis Mayfield & The Impressions

Persistence, tenacity – doggedness.  This is how I got my bachelor degree; 12 years of night school working full time, no debt.  A decade of therapy to overcome denial and shame for things that weren’t my fault.  Twenty-six years as a corporate salmon swimming up the patriarchal stream.

There are more like me.  We know how to persevere.  We know what “to persist” means.

Yes – “people get ready … there’s a train a-coming” and I’m on board.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

“When I see people stand fully in their truth, or when I see someone fall down, get back up, and say, “Damn. That really hurt, but this is important to me and I’m going in again”—my gut reaction is, “What a badass.” ― Brené Brown, Rising Strong

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Get Down and Get Gritty

“Don’t be frivolous.” – “Don’t waste your precious time. You never know how long you have.”

This is the message I drew from Pema Chodron’s deck of “Compassion Cards” today.  The cards are “teachings for awakening the heart in everyday life” – pull one at random for focus.

Staying focused – not easy when so much is spewed at us all day, every day – relentlessly!  It’s easy to become overwhelmed.  My cherished ambitions don’t feel frivolous – but they require time and drive.

  • Internal self – yoga, meditation; reading and writing
  • External self – exercise, prepping and eating healthy foods; getting enough sleep
  • Social and local scene – quality time with family, friends and neighbors
  • Society at large – standing up and showing up for my political and societal beliefs

We all get 24 hours.  How well do I use mine?

Some days I’m so overwhelmed I sit and mindlessly play rounds of online solitaire – or get sucked into Facebook memes, chatter and gossip.  The inconsequential Pema cautions me about.

In his book The Icarus Deception, Seth Godin says “Grit is our future.”  He doesn’t mean the grit that interferes with our assembly lines and our spinach leaves.  He’s talking about the internal grit that asks us to stand up and speak up; to point out the problems we see; to stay focused on doing “work that’s worth doing.”

He outlines what Psychologist Angela Duckworth and others say are key elements of grit:

  • Perseverance: people with grit stay hooked because they have goals and passion – it’s who they are.
  • Hardiness: gritty people survive the relentless grind because they’re determined to do so – it’s what makes “the work interesting, a challenge, worth doing.”
  • Resilience: despite obstacles, they dig in and are flexible and willing to practice daily; this isn’t a one-time gig.
  • Ambition: “Grit is its own reward” – it doesn’t need external success.
  • Commitment: these folks have “long term goals” – they don’t waver; “regardless of the presence of feedback.”
  • Flow: when people are “swallowed up by” their passion – they’re “focused beyond all reason, deep into something” they care about.

Seth says “we hesitate to expose our true selves and to speak up and do the work we’re capable of because we fear we don’t have the power to do so.  And yet some people manage to find that power.”

Some people maintain their focus – stay the course; get down and get gritty.

Get down and get gritty – let “some people” be me.

♥♥♥♥♥♥♥♥

“To be gritty is to keep putting one foot in front of the other. To be gritty is to hold fast to an interesting and purposeful goal. To be gritty is to invest, day after week after year, in challenging practice. To be gritty is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.” – Angela Lee Duckworth