How to Hit a Deadline with Grit!

Simple… stick to it and be on time.

Unlike today’s davebosquez.com article…

Deadline’s, Goals, & Finnish Lines.

Today’s word – “GRIT.”

The Finnish line =’s “Sisu… the Finnish art of inner strength translates into our word grit.” ~ Angela Lee Duckworth

How to hit a deadline with grit. First you ball it up, rear back, and then let er’ rip!

Nah, just joking.

Any deadline, goal, or finish line is simple to attain if you know a few details, and if you can dedicate the time needed to accomplish it.

Simple! A full marathon is 26.2 miles long… so… just start running… right?

Or do you think a plan would be in order?

In her research on “GRIT,” Mrs. Angela Lee Duckworth has discovered the one ingredient that seems to be a good indicator of those people who persevere in their lives, liberties, and pursuits of happiness.

It is not talent, IQ, privilege, or even having or not having money. It’s good ol’ fashioned “GRIT.”

I’ve adopted Mr. Ledger’s movie line as The Joker as a little life mantra that has helped me explain, mostly to myself, what kind of person and personality that I have when it comes to work, goals, deadlines or Finnish lines… “I just do… things.”

I’ve had people ask me, “What are you doing?”

I’ll give them a quizzical look and reply, “I have no idea… I’m just doing.”

But as I take stock of my life I think I’ve done a good bit… so far, with lot’s of learning.

So… How do you hit a deadline with grit anyway? What is grit?

Mrs. Duckworth has a definition for grit, it is… “The Power of Passion and Perseverance.” (I hear “a fixed mind”)

I like that definition.

Today’s article is late because… I didn’t get it done on time.

Here’s why. Yesterday, my writing day, I spent my hours working on another site of mine. I don’t really know how to build websites… but I’m learning and doing. When you are learning something new you are going to be slow at it… lot’s of baby steps.

Then today I could have gotten it done this morning but… my daughters car needed some maintaining and when I went to look at it, it also needed a front tire repaired after picking up a stainless steel self-tapping screw. Good thing she didn’t have to go to work today.

Then I cleaned the kitchen and did the dishes for my wife.

Then I went into the garage to invest an hour or two on a front porch swing that I am repainting, I was able to get most of the small, hard to reach areas covered with their first coat, and get a second coat on the main bench area.

Then I ran and picked up a laser range finder with a gift card I earned from my employer for being safety conscious.

The reason for all this “running around,” instead of writing… I was trying to beat the rain!

There is a bible verse I was thinking of as I hurried to get this stuff done… Ecclesiastes 11:4 “Whoever watches the wind will not plant; whoever looks at the clouds will not reap.” When I did look at those clouds they were getting pretty black, which means… “WE GOTTA GO! WE GOTTA GO!”

When I hear the word grit with my ears… my heart and mind hear, “Bound & Determined.”

My “normal” or “scheduled time” to write is 7pm. I started today’s late article on time, at 7pm. I had gotten all of my other responsibilities completed along with being able to grab some supper and watch Mrs. Duckworth’s Tedtalk on grit. I wanted to re-watch it for today’s notes.

I know people who get way more done in a day than I do so don’t worry, I’m not bragging on myself or anything like that, heck, if I would have planned a little better, and invested my time a little wiser yesterday, you would have received this article today, and on time… but with a very different slant to the articles main point of having grit, true grit.

But it all works out… plus I’m pretty tight with my boss when it comes to my writing schedule:)

As we continue on in our “growth mindset,” and we continue to strive to be successful at our individual endeavors remember… have a little grit! Stick with it! Stay the course! Fail fast! Learn fast! If you have a hard time learning fast… have a little more grit!:) Stick with it some more! Stay the course, hold fast to the tiller! Try a different tactic! Apply what works! Commence to bobbing and weaving! Zig and zag if you gotta!

In the immortal words of one of today’s well known, common man, philosophers… Larry the Cable Guy… just… “GIT ER’ DONE!”