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With so much talk about grit, the question begs - how do we balance being gritty while being generous? These two characteristics can be polar opposites. It takes focus and energy to persevere, follow through, be tenacious and stick with it. Grit is a form of (positive) selfishness. Generosity requires giving of yourself to someone else. This also takes your focus and energy, but it’s on another person.
If we do one without the other, we will get out of balance, and there will be a consequence. Neither one comes natural to all of us, and balancing them typically takes mindfulness for most of us.
For example, if we’re gritty but not generous, we end up sacrificing some very important areas of our life - our relationships. Students might succeed in getting valedictorian, or being the highest scorer on the basketball team, but if that student neglects helping others, by sharing techniques, or listening to someone’s problem for example, they will basically stop the flow of give and take. A manager might get all the work accomplished and obtain all her career credentials, while neglecting to genuinely grow her staff, and even neglecting to build important bonds with her family.
People don’t feel the repercussion right away. They are too busy (being gritty). It’s not until they need someone or something that they notice. Later they start to see they don’t have a close friend, or a good relationship with their daughter, or their people are not loyal.
To key is to balance grit with generosity. (Stay tuned for tips on this below!)
There’s an old adage “givers gain.” When we give of ourselves to help someone else - especially when we don’t expect anything in return - this energy creates a flow. When we stay open to receive, that allows others to give.
To effectively balance grit with generosity, it takes knowing and accepting ourselves, and then aligning the appropriate behaviors to stay true to ourselves. This is probably sounding familiar to many of you who’ve read my past blogs - this is GRIT® (Generosity, Respect, Integrity and Truth)!
When we practice GRIT®, our cup is full; our battery is charged; our truth is aligned. We feel abundant. For a leader, this means taking care of yourself - emotionally, spiritually, physically and mentally. It helps you show up whole every day. Not just physically arrive, but REALLY show up in the way you want to be there - engaged with your team with a positive attitude about what’s in front of you.
When you stay focused on the most important things to you, and work through your tasks accordingly, you’ll feel like you have enough time and energy to give to others because you are aligned appropriately. For some great tools to help with this, head on over to the Resource Library...
To get started balancing GRIT® with generosity:
List the 3-5 most important things for you to be happy and successful
Then align your day, your week and your month by writing your priorities.
List your activities that align.
Schedule time to reflect each day.
Feel gratitude for your accomplishments.
Adjust accordingly.
Use the comment section to let us know how YOU maintain your grit and generosity. We may even share your tips in our next webinar on GRIT® & Generosity on July 11th at 2pm EST: The Top 3 Habits of Extremely Productive and Truly Generous Leaders.
If you don’t have my GRIT® planner yet, get a 30% off code for Amazon when you sign up at GRITtyStuff.com!
Cheers,
Laurie