In 2020, I invited people to attend a free workshop titled “Let’s Use our GRIT to Get a Grip.” I asked the participants to identify a difficult situation or relationship and develop a plan of engaging their GRIT in the face of that obstacle. I really appreciated the range of obstacles that participants openly shared during each session!
In this blog, I want to share with you my journey of using my GRIT to get a grip. My path to publication has been full of challenging situations as well as rewarding ones so I thought it would be neat to celebrate the release of my new book with a reflection on some of the many times when I needed to get a grip along the way.
In case you haven’t attended the “Let’s Use our GRIT to Get a Grip”, workshop here are the four grips I proposed for discussion:
- Stay Afloat
- Avoid the Abyss
- Find Traction
- Get Grounded
If you would like to know more about how these grips relate to you, check out the offerings page on my website in early April! Here is a brief description of the four grips and my personal experience with each one along my path to publication.
- Stay Afloat: this type of grip is the most relevant when you feel stuck, alone and surrounded by something that’s trying to pull you down (i.e., feels like clinging to a life preserver out in the middle of an ocean without any land or landmarks in sight).
I have lost count of how many decisions and revisions I’ve had to make as a self-published author! There were a lot of times when I felt like the hardest job was keeping on top of the decisions and revisions. A related challenge was searching for resources to help me make the most informed decision and then actually making the decision to keep the publication process moving along.
- Avoid the Abyss: this type of grip is most relevant when you feel tense, stretched beyond your limit and hanging onto something in an effort to avoid an unknown or uncomfortable situation (i.e., feels like clutching or grasping the side of a cliff with the sense of hanging on by a thread).
I am totally out of my element when it comes to knowing the “ins and outs” of some amazing online platforms for book lovers such as BookBub and Goodreads. There are millions of people sharing millions of thoughts about what seems like millions of books every minute of every day. That seems like a bottomless pit of information and sometimes I’m on the edge, afraid to take the plunge for more than 15 minutes at a time.
- Find Traction: this grip is most relevant when you feel like you’re moving out of control and you just need your tires or your feet to make contact with some sort of surface (i.e., feels like giving everything you’ve got but spinning your wheels and not going anywhere).
Each time I spend 15 minutes in one of the online platforms, I feel like I just need to focus on learning about one thing instead of fluctuating back and forth between ideas for where to start doing the work.
- Get Grounded: this grip is most relevant when you feel as though a change of perspective or taking a step back will provide a different lens for processing a challenging situation (i.e., feels like your future-self or your higher power giving you a hug or resting a hand on your shoulder for reassurance that you’ll get through).
For me, realizing that I had full access to Gratitude, Resilience, Imagination and Time (i.e., my GRIT) in the face of each challenging situation was what allowed me to get grounded and keep moving forward one step at a time on this journey.
Do you have a situation or relationship in your life that makes you feel as though you need to get a better grip? Do you want to learn more about calling on your GRIT in a challenging situation and using it to get that grip? You can grab a copy of Know, Grow and Show Your GRIT: Self-Discovery Made Simple, connect with me anytime for a 1:1 session or check out my offerings page in April!
