The last layer of grit is the commitment to the goal and to always making the harder choices that get you there.

You can’t go into anything just hoping.

The goal isn’t going to realize itself. It’s not going to just happen because you think about it. You also won’t reach your goals just by talking about them. It doesn’t work that way. You need action. And a commitment.

When you are not committed to your goal, it’s also easy to get distracted by all of the other things in your life that are consuming you. And if you cannot resist the temptation of doing the thing that takes you away from your goal, it proves you’re not really serious about your goal.

When you are not fully committed to your goal, you also give yourself tempting easier options, something you could choose to do instead of going for the goal. That’s setting yourself up for failure because when you do that, you’ll be more likely to choose that other option instead. And once you go that easier route, you’re proving once again that the goal doesn’t mean enough to you.

Commitment to the harder choices means showing up, always, and never giving yourself any other option than showing up.
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You have the grit required to succeed when you are so committed to a goal, you do not allow yourself to even consider any other possibilities. 

Successful people were once just like you, facing choices every day. Then they committed to putting the goal first, showing up and putting in the work. No one else gets to see their behind the scenes choices. Everyone just sees the result. But they were there in your shoes and they made the choices that kept them committed to the goal…and they got ahead. That’s what separates the good from the great. I always remind my youth bowlers of that because I think that’s so empowering for them to be able recognize their power. I don’t really think that most know their own full potential.

As a young bowler, I was always balancing a lot of things at once. I had a lot of choices of where to spend my time. Do I hang out with my friends at the high school football game?  Or do I drive to another state and compete in a bowling tournament? Do I go to sleep earlier at night because I’m tired from school? Or do I go to practice at 9:30pm, because that’s when lanes are available? There’s always an easier choice, a reason to not show up for the hard stuff. You have to stay super focused. And if the goal is meaningful enough for you, and you feel enough passion for the goal to fully commit to it, then the excuses never win. If that goal truly lives in your heart and you want to achieve it, you need to live your life every single day in pursuit of that dream.

When I started bowling seriously, I never gave myself another option other than becoming a successful bowler. I knew no one was just born a bowler. I didn’t have some innate talent. So I made the choice — a commitment to myself and to my goal — and got to work, grittily growing my way to greatness. I was fully committed to my core. I wanted to rise to the top in my sport. Simple as that.

And when I committed, I also had to accept that it’s not going to be easy. That’s always the deal too.

And how you approach any of your goals is how you approach all of your goals. Wobble on one, pick the easier route and you are setting up a precedent to be less committed to others too…

Anytime I set a goal for anything in my life, I make myself fully commit. Most of you know I’m a mom to two wonderful children. From the beginning with both of them, I set a goal to birth them naturally, without medication. I didn’t give myself another option. They were going to be birthed naturally. We knew that was not the option. And we accepted that. Of course, I knew that if there was an emergency, I could have a C-section. I’m not that stubborn that I wouldn’t allow that to happen if medically necessary, but as long as they arrived naturally, I was not going to have an epidural. This was the hardest thing I’ve ever endured.

That wasn’t really a common choice at all. So we prepared. We read a lot of books. We went to a lot of classes. Anybody who goes into childbirth just hoping for natural childbirth, and not preparing for it, is not going to go through with it.

The easy option out would have been an epidural and not feeling anything. But for me it wasn’t even an option. Natural childbirth wasn’t just my “hope,” it was a definitive choice in order to bring my children into the world as naturally as possible. I knew the difficulty level of the goal I was facing. But that was my choice. And that’s a goal I accomplished. Twice.

My son, my first born ended up being a 22 hour labor, with three hours pushing because he was so big. He was 9.2 pounds when he was born. Now I feel like I literally can do anything! 

If you commit to something, with all of your heart, you can totally achieve it. It applies to all aspects of life.

What’s the next goal you are going to fully commit to? Are you living in alignment with that goal and making the harder choices that show your commitment to it? 

Want to know more of my secrets on GRIT? Watch this!