It’s called by many different names, such as courage, bravery, pluck, mettle, or backbone, but it means the same thing: strength of character. In this article, Inner Matrix Systems – a personal mastery training system for high achievers – shares strategies about how you can strengthen your resolve to stay on target to accomplish your goals:
Start small
Practice only making commitments that you can keep. If, for example, you have coffee with a friend on your calendar, don’t reschedule for any reason short of an emergency. If your daily goals include going to the gym on your way to work, do what you need to do – including setting multiple alarms – to make sure you make it there. Small successes build on themselves. Once getting to the gym regularly is no longer a challenge, work toward keeping a daily journal or some other goal support activity.
Make no mean no
To make only commitments you can keep, you will need to be discriminating about the promises you make. Learn to make quick comparisons about which actions are aligned with your goals and which are not. If your vision is to build a financially secure future and working extra hours is one of your supporting goals, you may need to pass when invited to take the afternoon off for a round of golf. Make no mean no and don’t acquiesce to pressure from others. They don’t have your goals in mind. On the other hand, if your vision is to build a wide range of meaningful relationships, golf may be more goal-oriented than sticking around the office.
Sometimes it’s okay to say yes, and other times no is the best choice, but the important thing is to make your decisions align with your goals. This change will undoubtedly sometimes come at the expense of the desires of others.
Train it
Training yourself to make commitments that align with your goals is a process, as is developing the tenacity to make no mean no if something is misaligned. The “train it” step is where you develop the process for obtaining grit. Note where you didn’t meet your expectations and where you did. Resolve to tweak the strategy where you find weak points and reinforce where you discover strengths.
Remember, it is a learning process. You should not expect yourself to get it right every time. Unrealistic expectations often cause discouragement and make accomplishing your goals even more difficult. Use the steps above to practice grit and see the many positive outcomes it creates.
About Inner Matrix Systems
Inner Matrix Systems, based in Denver, is a personal mastery training system for high achievers. For more than twenty years, IMS has delivered a proprietary methodology that rewires, trains, and aligns the nervous system, emotions, and thought strategies to create real-life results. CEO, Joey Klein, and IMS have worked with more than 80,000 individuals from around the world through both live and online training programs, as well as one-on-one coaching. Clients have included: Boeing, IBM, Dell, Google, Panda Express, Coca Cola and The World Health Organization. Joey is the author of The Inner Matrix: Leveraging the Art & Science of Personal Mastery to Create Real Life Results (June 2021).