A couple of weeks ago I told you about the time I was on my kitchen floor crying. That post resonated with so many of you. And it surprised some of you too.
The truth is that moment sitting on my kitchen floor was far from my only low moment.
When you see anybody great at what they do, whether it’s in any sport that you see on TV or even a good author, it can be intimidating to look at them. You might think they just have that talent… but you actually only see the best parts of them. You don’t see the journey. You don’t see their heartbreak. You don’t see the crying.
I’ve actually gone through a lot of ups and downs in my career and a lot of heartbreak.
Too often though, those low moments crush a person.
Some don’t ever get back up from that kitchen floor to keep going. Those are the moments when too many people quit.
But some of us find it in ourselves to get back up again and keep going.
That’s why there’s only a handful of people who rise to the top and succeed in any one thing.
We are not invincible. We are just the ones who persevere. We learn how to move on.
The emotional high and low roller coaster – experiencing all of those peaks and valleys – is definitely the hardest thing about being a professional athlete. One day it makes you feel the highest of highs. And then the next day you find yourself feeling the lowest of lows. I don’t think there’s any other profession out there as turbulent, except maybe stock trader.
Being an athlete in any sport, the highs are so high and the lows are so low and there’s no way to keep it steady and constant…because you’re not always going to win and you’re not always going to lose. And you’re also not always going to be in the middle. And sometimes many people might like you and cheer for you, and sometimes they won’t. And the more successful you get, the deeper the dive into those lows when you do hit them. And they’re always there, no matter how good you get.
Why would somebody choose to do something that is sure to mean more losses than wins and so much heartbreak in between?
It’s crazy, right? I’ve learned that in order to be really great at anything, you have to be a little bit crazy.
But if you make it through all those moments of defeat, those valleys between the peaks, the wins are worth it all. Those peak moments are what we fight for. It’s what keeps us coming back after the dreadful defeats.
And they show you what you’re made of. They show you what you’re capable of. They teach you that you CAN persevere.
I wasn’t afraid to fail again and go through all those emotions again if it got me closer to getting to the other side. It was still hard for me when I was out there competing week after week though. Some days I’d be on cloud nine and that would dictate my performance. The next day I could be sulking and sad and upset because of something in my performance. I think maybe at one point I thrived on that though too.
And through it all, whatever I was feeling, I just built up a lot of grit.
I learned that getting to the top isn’t in a straight line. You don’t just appear there.
And the strength from the struggle is a big part of what gets you there.
Actually, often, when asked how I managed a difficult moment, I like to just say, “Grit.”
I’ll confess that it’s much easier for me to say that now though than in those painful moments. In those moments, as I fought through to keep going, it was always hard… It’s only later when I have enough space from it all to reflect back on the journey when it becomes really clear what gave me that grit to manage those moments.
Next time I’ll write more about what grit really means to me, how I managed those moments, the personal tools I used to build up the grit needed to rise to the top in my career…
In the meantime, I’m working on a special something for you regarding GRIT. If you’re interested in finding out how you rank on the Grit scale, you should download this FREE assessment. It will also give you first dibs on a new surprise coming out soon!
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