Turn a Gut Punch into Being Gutsy

Now that summer has kicked in with long days and fun get-togethers, are you having trouble sticking to your goals? Are you thinking, What goal list?! That’s understandable, and not only when the weather is good!

Let’s face it: The idea of showing grit sounds cool, but the reality can feel as annoying as ants at a picnic. However, persevering is critical because even the best projects and plans face obstacles and challenges.

Here’s the good news: Grit doesn’t have to be a bore or a grind. You can make it a little easier (and maybe even cool!) by applying the work skills you use every day to transform your approach. So, in the July series, Three Work Skills to Make Grit Cool and Easy, we’ll talk about how to leverage work skills to make sticking to your goals—especially in challenging times—a little easier.

This month, we’ll look at the story of Janie Deegan, owner of Janie’s Life Changing Baked Goods. You’ll hear how she persevered from being homeless to building a multi-million-dollar business.

Reinvention Requires Guts and Grit

Janie Deegan is having a moment. She’s flying high with her pie crust cookies, but her background makes her rise nothing short of miraculous.

That’s because it wasn’t too long ago that Janie battled sobriety. Her drug and alcohol addictions led to multiple stints in rehab and even a period of being homeless. But by the time she was 25, she was clean and sober. Mission accomplished, right? It turns out reinvention required some grit.

She reflected, “I was a shell of a person when I got sober and couldn’t even look people in the eye. I really had no life skills and no resume. I felt so insecure.”

Then she brightened up. “But then I started to bake. My life was out of control, but baking is so controlled…It just started to fill me with self-esteem and enabled me to reconnect with people.”

Use Courageous Judgment to Persevere

Janie’s story reminds me of people I’ve met who are initially receptive to shifting how they work. However, it’s surprising how quickly doubts kick in. I hear things like, “These ideas sound good, but I’ve made too many mistakes.” Or “I have a limited education, so I can’t start now.”

It’s worth bringing these reservations to light. However, here’s some food for thought: What might happen if you stop letting setbacks define you? That’s a learning from the case study. Janie Deegan can’t erase her past but realized she doesn’t need to let it throttle her future.

By contrast, the old way of bossing up was to ignore what you didn’t like about yourself and try to muscle your way to success. However, reframe this idea by applying the How tactic of discernment.

Great leaders don’t hide mistakes—they confront them. They help you gain insight and knowledge. Then they have the good sense to know when to let the subject rest so that everyone can get on to new business.

Polish your leadership skills by taking charge of past mistakes. Like the case study, courageously listen to your gut about what it’s time to acknowledge and release so you can move on. That type of shrewd critical thinking and judgment is an aspect of grit, and it’s a quantifiable, marketable skill.

Here are three ways to practice:

1. Ask yourself The Big Question, “What’s the thing in my past I always try to gloss over? How can I transform my Big Secret into a lesson learned?”
2. Try these mindset swaps:
3. I need to hide part of myself becomes I move on and invest in myself.
4. Mistakes are terrible becomes Mistakes make me relatable.
5. Mistakes erode my self-image becomes Overcoming my past fuels my self-confidence.
6. And inspire yourself by declaring, “Mistakes aren’t the end of the world. They are the beginning of learning and wisdom.”

No one is immune from tough experiences. But sooner or later, pushing down your past will backfire. So, own what didn’t work out, let it go, and turn a gut punch into being gutsy.