Nov 29 2022
Grit and priorities
A quote I really like is:
At any given moment, you are doing what you most want to be doing
That is to say, time management is rarely an issue of not having enough time and more often an issue of priorities. It’s possible to want to do something, but not prioritize it enough to make time to actually do it.
I think this is the source of a lot of stress for many people. It’s okay to not prioritize things you want, but we should acknowledge when this happens.
This thought came to me when discussing the concept of grit with my parents. They have long been telling me that I lack grit and tend to quit when things get difficult. If I’m being honest, they’re probably right—but I wonder how much of it is due to lack of grit, and how much is not feeling attached enough to an outcome for me to make it a priority.
When I care about something, I have the capacity to put in tremendous effort and make sacrifices to make it happen. However, if I don’t feel strongly about the thing, I have a hard time making those sacrifices.
I doubt this is a unique experience. It seems like there is a market for a way to make you care more about things. Of course, I want to work on things that are meaningful to me, but I also know that there are unglamorous parts of any job. It would be cool to find a way to “trick” my mind into caring about the outcomes of these less glamorous things to the point where grit takes care of itself.
Or maybe I’m approaching this wrong. Maybe grit is just being able to put in the work, even when you don’t feel emotionally attached to the outcome. In that case, I’m really not sure how to develop more grit.