Where’s Your Grit?

This is my daughter.

She’s a competitive cheerleader—and if you’ve ever watched what these kids do, you know it takes serious grit.

She falls.
She gets back up.
She trains through pain, pressure, and repetition.
And then she shows up and gives everything she has. Again and again.

So when I was venting recently about a challenge at work—one of those draining, slow-burn, “why am I still doing this?” moments—she hit me with this from the back seat:

“Mom… where’s your grit?”

😳 Mic. Drop.

Her school talks about grit all the time.
They teach it. They celebrate it.
And clearly—she’s living it.

That moment caught me off guard… but also brought me back to center.

Because as adults, we don’t get medals or stickers for showing up when it’s hard.
No one’s clapping when we keep going.
But grit is still the thing that separates progress from plateau.

We expect leaders to be resilient. Steady. Unshakeable.
But that kind of grit doesn’t just happen. We have to choose it. Practice it. Rebuild it.

Here’s what helps me when mine starts to slip:

✅ Get clear on what you’re in it for
✅ Make discomfort part of the process—not the enemy
✅ Build routines that carry you when motivation won’t
✅ Surround yourself with people who remind you who you are
✅ And borrow belief from someone who’s still showing up—even when it’s hard

I borrowed mine from an 11-year-old in a cheer uniform.