S2A

My 10 favorite quotes on grittiness...

10. “Every great story happened when someone decided not to give up.” ~Spryte Lorian

9. “The difference in winning and losing is most often, not quitting.” ~Walt Disney

8. “I like things to happen. And if they don’t happen, I like to make them happen.” ~Winston Churchill

7. “If you wait for perfect conditions, you will never get anything done.” ~Ecclesiastes 11:4 (TLB)

6. “Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.” ~Angela Lee Duckworth

5. “The most effective way to do it, is to do it.” ~Amelia Earhart

4. “The future bears down upon each one of us with all the hazards of the unknown. The only way out is through.” ~Plutarch

3. “To be gritty is to fall down seven times, and rise eight.” ~Angela Lee Duckworth

2. “You have a choice! You can throw in the towel, or you can use it to wipe the sweat off your face!” ~Unknown

1. “A determined soul will do more with a rusty monkey wrench than a loafer will accomplish with all the tools in a machine shop.” ~Robert Hughes

I love Grit! I’ll take the determined soul with the rusty monkey wrench over the well-equipped loafer every single time.

The Goat Game: Save your goat. Play a game.

"Karen really gets my goat!" What a curious expression, meaning to irritate, annoy or anger someone. It comes from a tradition in horse racing. Thought to have a calming effect on high-strung thoroughbreds, a goat was placed in the horse's stall on the night before the race.

Nobody likes to get their goat gotten, least of all a high-strung thoroughbred. So I devised the Goat Game to keep your goat safe in your stall. Here's how you play:
The next time someone takes a position that really gets your goat, ask yourself, "If I had to argue in favor of (Karen's) position, what would my argument be?"

You accumulate points in the game by finding ways to strengthen the goat-getter's argument. Playing the Goat Game has 3 great benefits:

1. It slows you down (like your mom telling you to count to 10 when you're angry).
2. It forces you to acknowledge opposing positions.
3. It helps you spot possible flaws in your own position.

Contrary to popular belief, you don't win the Goat Game with your original position, but by creating a new and better informed position.