selective grit
If there's one word that could sum up my character, it would be 'quitter'.
I've quit guitar, swimming, design, badminton, web design, relationships, rock climbing, film photography, running, and probably a hundred other things. The longest I've held a job is 1 year (quit, quit, laid off, and fired, in that order).
And for the longest time, that's who I thought that's who I was. A quitter. A loser. A person with no grit.
But the more I reflect on my life, the more I thought about the times I did actually show grit.
Like when I spent 13 months trying to land a visa-sponsored job London because I wanted to live there and be close to my friends and girlfriend.
Or the fact that I've been in a relationship for almost 7 years.
Or the fact that even after dozens of failures trying to do 'my own thing', I'm still trying to do 'my own thing'.
And that's when I had to face my negative self talk.
Because in reality, I do have grit. But only for things that I truly care about.
In other words, I have selective grit.
I can't force myself to persevere on something I don't deeply are about. But for the handful of things that I do have interest in, you can bet your ass that I won't rest until I achieve it.
So the next time someone tries to make you feel bad about not persevering, tell them to kindly fuck off.