Think back to a time in your life when you felt defeated. A time when you gave up, threw in the towel, and went home.

Think of a time when you felt defeated BUT instead of giving up you overcame the situation.

What was the difference?

Did you change your approach? Your mindset? Your plan?

Overcoming obstacles is one of life’s greatest challenges. The obstacles that we experience are given to us to learn lessons, understand circumstances, and to undergo personal growth. Coming back from defeat is a difficult task; a task of which takes a lot of grit.

grit, noun

1. Sand or gravel
2. firmness of mind or spirit; unyielding courage in the face of hardship

I would like to think that you referred to the second definition…

Firmness of mind or spirit. To get up from the setback you need to change your frame of mind. The thoughts that you have will influence the level of which you will overcome a challenge. Being able to keep a strong mentality will create success for you as the end product. Positive thoughts, positive affirmations, and keeping an open mind will all contribute toward a future success because you’ve altered your mindset to have a positive impact.

But how? How do I keep my mindset? I look at the challenge. I analyze why all of a sudden the setback become bigger than my dreams. Then I realize what is actually stopping me from overcoming the situation. — For example: The fear of failure, or a lack of belief may have been in the way of overcoming the setback. My mentality, or review of past experiences may have been an emotional barrier that prevented me from overcoming the situation. Every situation is different, therefore, every barrier is going to be different.

So recap. First, identify the setback. Second, recognize the barrier that is getting in the way of making your comeback.

Secondly, by definition of grit we must contain courage. Life requires courage. Courage is standing up to tough circumstances. Courage is heart (literally taken from the French root “coeur” which means heart.) Courage requires energy. Most importantly, courage is usually shown when something else is at stake. In this case, your dreams are at stake.

You carry the ability to comeback from a setback by using different strategies to cope with the defeat. Mental, physical, emotional, or situational barriers may exist but they are able to be overcame by grit.

Figure out the thoughts or actions that you need to change in order to comeback stronger than ever. Create a game plan of how you are going to enforce positive habits that will help you achieve the level of success that you wish to achieve.

Have grit, have courage, and you will overcome. Those two things will help you start to live your life to the fullest everyday.

-Liv