I returned to an in-person co-working space last week. As I re-enter and re-engage, I've had thought-provoking conversations with other small business owners about the past year - our wins and setbacks.
The theme that has come up repeatedly? A deepening commitment to keep at it. Keep building and growing our small businesses in spite of the bumpy ride.
Some have weathered months without clients or income. Networks and plans have languished. Yet, now I see leaders more devoted to businesses than ever before. Why?
Angela Duckworth calls it Grit. I started thinking about Grit and the role of perseverance as I look back and move forward.
I have mixed feelings about the word. On one hand, grit resonates with my personality and values. I grew up in a hardworking, midwestern family. Commitment to hard work has brought me far in my life and career - from a secretary to a senior executive.
On the other hand, right now I feel touchy when I hear the word "grit." Is success just about digging in, powering through and soldiering on?
In her TED talk, Duckworth defines Grit as "Passion and perseverance in the pursuit of very long term goals”. I think of it as mundane excellence. The tedious and important daily dedication to your craft despite distractions, downturns, and dry spells. Grit is the thing that drives me to work one more day for small gains to my craft.
Duckworth recently discussed what Grit looks like today - post Covid - in a TED Podcast, How to turn Grit into a lifelong habit. It is worth a listen.
For me, Grit is grounded in two things: Resilience and Patience.
Resilience to ride the shifts and pivots of a small business.
Patience to show up every day, stick with it, and reframe the whole thing as a learning journey.
When I started my business six years ago, a colleague warned that it would take three years to be taken seriously and for clients to believe you’ll stick with it. Just now, the work is more repeatable and clients are coming back for second and third engagements. I needed all six years of the learning journey.
Today’s challenge: How do I think long-term in a world where change is constant?
Can we anticipate what a three year timespan will even look like? One year? Six months? With so much in flux, the simplest way forward may be to pick a vague direction that lines up with your values and take one small step forward.
The vague direction I’m headed in: building a business that is purposeful and portable. I’ve traded off security, stability and structure for purpose driven, flexible work that can be done when and where I want. Setting your vague compass in the direction of your values makes perseverance and resilience easier.
How to move forward without a long-term goal? Get moving!
Do something. Anything. Successful problem solvers have what’s called a "bias toward action." I know, I know….the thought of jumping to action makes the cautious among us tremble.
As a female professional, I've seen and felt the widespread "confidence crisis" of women in corporations, nonprofits, schools, and start-ups. Few women appear immune. In my experience the single most potent antidote to jumpstart confidence is to get into action.
"Action is a high road to self-confidence" Bruce Lee.
Action helps you build your way forward and kicks off a learning journey.
Action provides a full body experience - rich with data and learning.
The courage to take action is the antidote to imposter syndrome and self doubt.
My story of Grit
Three years ago, I packaged all of my design and innovation insights and tools into a workshop called "the Anatomy of an Idea." I began teaching a two-hour evening workshop at General Assembly. It took weeks to prepare. Anyone who has curated a career's worth of content, insights, and tools knows the investment involved.
My first class had six students. Six. My second class was a big hotel chain with an audience of 30 people. They canceled at 6 pm the evening before. So. Many. Hours. Invested.
Since then, I've refined and delivered this workshop over 50 times to hundreds of students.
Grit is a rearview mirror experience.
A few weeks ago, as my husband and I were parking the car near the General Assembly sign in Ponce City Market, he asked, "Remember when you used to teach your night class?"
Wow. I thought. Yes, I do remember. The uncomfortable, clunky first versions of my class fueled my business and, more importantly, my confidence.
Grit is patience
As we dust ourselves off and get back into the arena - remember that Grit isn’t magic. It’s patience to pursue a vague, ambiguous, values oriented goal.
The need for Grit, perseverance, and taking courageous action never really ends. At 25 or 75, at the top of your game or your first day, patience will pay you back tenfold.
If we were in Vegas, we’d be “doubling down”.
In real life, we are doubling down too, but on grit and patience.