You remind me a lot of how I used to think/act. It seems like you get discouraged, then dwell on it; constantly thinking about it until it eats all your confidence and shits it out. It also seems like you have an obsessive mindset when it comes to constantly hanging on to things (like the test results)Hey
I just joined the forum last night and have been reading through quite a few of the gold threads all of which have some great content, so I just want to thank everyone who has contributed to this great resource.
This is my first post and I'm afraid it's a little negative. Although I hope it will be constructive as well. A few weeks ago I read a book called "Grit: The power of Passion and perseverance". For those of you who haven't read it, it basically says that grit (made up from passion & perseverance), is way more important than talent and is the biggest factor in achieving success.
In one of the chapters it has this test where you answer some questions and then it gives you a score for how gritty you are. So i do the test trying to be as honest as possible and then I check my score. My score is pathetic, putting me in the bottom 20% of the population. I tell myself this must be some kind of mistake and retake the test, thinking very carefully about each answer. Still, I have a terrible score.
Now, I can't stop thinking about it. I've reassessed my life and all the decisions I’ve taken and I'm ashamed to admit that I do lack grit. When something gets a bit too tough or boring or I don't see the point in it any more, I give up, I have done most of my life. I've disguised these decisions with all kinds of excuses but I see now that it is a weakness of mine and something I need to fix.
I'm currently working on a prototype for a web/mobile app, it meets the CENTS criteria and I’m determined to make it a success. However, I'm really worried that when it starts to get tough, as it surely will, that I'll quit and be back at square one again.
It seems that so many of the people in this forum have so much grit, determination, hustle.......call it what you will, and I'd like to ask you all whether you were always like this or whether you had to develop it and what strategies do you use to keep yourself from quitting when it gets hard or boring or seems hopeless?
Thanks in advance for the replies.
You know there are ways you can use this to your advantage, right? All it takes is your mental acceptance—accept you've made some goofs in the past; accept that you scored lower than you anticipated on a 10 question quiz, which—to me, anyway—seems like the equivalent of those "which character are you!?!?!" quizzes on Facebook; accept that you are in the bottom 20% of the population.
Now, once you've accepted it, take all that self-pity, self-doubt, and lack of confidence and ball it up and throw that shit in the trash. Or, even better, the toilet. Flush it and watch it spin down the drain and let it go; move on. I bet that if every successful entrepreneur took this test before they were successful they would have score the same or lower than you. That's the beauty of growing. You can be different, and you can improve your mindset. You just have to make a conscious effort to accept certain things and make adjustments where necessary. A freakin' 10 question "quiz" can't determine or control your destiny, man. Only you can. Stop relinquishing control of your life because some basic HTML poll told you to. Take your test results as feedback, improve, and kick a$$. Focus on your project. When you get those urges to quit, realize your brain is telling you that you're outside of your comfort zone and it's freaking out. It's normal. Outside of basic survival, fear is a great opportunity for growth and development.
Just remember, most things are learned behavior. You've got to learn that you're likely the only thing holding you back, your personal beliefs (or self-defeating/limiting beliefs). You didn't develop your thought-process/mindset overnight, so just remember you're not going to vastly improve/change your mindset overnight. It's a practice—perfect it and adapt.
Best wishes to you and your project. Don't raise the white flag if your project crumbles to the ground. Salvage the useful nuggets from the rubble of the experience and take them with you to rebuild.
Cheers.
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