I recently finished reading, Grit, by Angela Duckworth. I listened to her TED talk ages ago but it wasn’t until I was at the Portland airport on the way home from my length of Lake Memphremagog swim that I saw her book at a kiosk. Arrogantly, I thought, “I just swam 25 miles, I know all about Grit!”
But I was curious what was under that bold red and white cover; what could be discussed inside all of those pages? At a lull in my reading queue, I picked it up – or more accurately, downloaded it from Audible.
A scientist by degree and a data analyst for the last 20 years, Ms. Duckworth captivated me with her scientific method to gather data. Her courage to discover and pursue preeminent experts in their respective fields to discuss her hypotheses was awe inspiring. She sprinkled anecdotes from swimmers throughout the book. And having never considered myself a particularly talented person, I loved her take home message that Grit is more important than talent. But, according to the Grit scale, I am not gritty.
While Ms. Duckworth doesn’t discuss parenting itself, I feel as though I’ve learned the most about grit from being a parent. Showing up everyday for my kids and trying to be my best self even when my kids push buttons that I didn’t know I had, has by far been my grittiest endeavor to date – and I can’t just apply for a new position, quit or walk away. As I commonly joke with people who ask why I like to swim marathons; marathon swimming is a veritable vacation from parenting! All I have to do is plan for and execute a swim with a crew that is there to support and encourage me along the way – I wish I could say the same for day to day parenting.
“Grit is more about stamina than intensity,” Ms. Duckworth says. While on the surface, this sounds like marathon swimming to a T, the kind of Grit discussed in the book is that which leads to excellence. Being so passionate about something that you stick it out through the good times and the bad – while I can make this claim about swimming for a 14 hour period, in life, I have room for improvement. Fortunately, Grit can grow.
Ms. Duckworth has given me plenty of things to think about: My larger life goals. What I want my business to do for people. How I can encourage my kids to be gritty. But for the purposes of this post, I’d like to reflect on deliberate practice – this is the type of practice that sets the gritty apart. In all of my coaching, and my own practice, I like to stress a form focus, or technique focused training. In other words, practice deliberately – don’t just go through the motions. Make sure that your time in the water counts.
Even if you are not striving for excellence, improvement is inevitable with deliberate practice. If you need help to swim more efficiently, I offer a self paced virtual course that covers the nuts and bolts of Efficient Swimming. If you’re ready to leave the concrete box and go wild, jump in our virtual Quickstart for Wild Swimming group coaching course to summon the courage to brave the unknown. If you’re ready to push your limits, join our Quickstart for Marathon Swimming virtual group coaching course to surround yourself with like minded limit pushers.
This is a great time of year to take a break from counting yards and instead focus on how often you are practicing deliberately. If you’re not ready for coaching, send me some footage of you swimming – above and/or below the water – and I’ll analyze it for free. If you’re looking to improve, it’s one of the best gifts that you can give to yourself (or a loved one!). Seeing yourself swim can do wonders, and with just a few seconds of footage I can give you a few things to work on in your deliberate practice.