Story Athlete GRIT April 2020, Day 15. We're over halfway done.

When people ask me about GRIT they almost always have the same first two questions.

Q1: Are the workouts hard?

A1: Yes, but scalable, so you can totally do them. We have young and hold, athletic and obese, strong and weak.

Q2: Do I have to write?

A2: Yes. But you don’t have to post it publicly unless you want to.

More often than not, the writing is a bigger source of resistance to giving GRIT a try than the workouts. I find that a bit funny because the writing is way, way easier than the workouts.

But it scares people.

“I’m not a writer,” they say.

“I wouldn’t even know where to begin.”

Once they’re on the inside, most people find they enjoy the writing.

First off, you don’t need to be a writer. We’re not Steven Kings or Tom Clancys over here trying to develop the next New York Times bestseller.

We’re not developing plots; we’re developing our minds.

Plus, it’s easy to know where to begin because there’s a daily principle provided for you, and all you have to do is add your perspective.

Today, the principle is “I Am My Own Therapist,” so I’ll start my perspective with, “I don’t have a Ph.D. or an MD, but…”

I have been to a few therapists in my day. I’ve been for myself, I’ve been with my kids, and my wife and I see our marriage counselor proactively a couple of times each year. So I know from experience how beneficial it can be.

And I know the result: clarity.

We seek clarity for why we are depressed or angry. Or for the direction our life is moving or our marriage is heading. Or whatever the hell else we’re feeling that we need a little help with.

Therapists are very good at helping us find that clarity, which leads to the reason that people end up liking the writing portion of GRIT.

It brings clarity.

In a world with so many distractions, it’s increasingly difficult to find any time to sit and think. Time to ponder where you’re at and where you’re going is scarce, and, just like exercise, it’s easy to put on the back burner.

But when you have to do it every day, well, then you have to do it.

And when you do it, it gets easier.

And when it gets easier, it gets more enjoyable.

Eventually, it gets to the point that you look forward to it. You start figuring yourself out; you begin thinking about your problems in a different way.

Then you find the courage to share it, and you find that one of your best friends is dealing with the same issue, only you never knew about it because he never said anything until you wrote about it.

Eventually, you’ll have that moment where you realize that something you wrote not only helped you find clarity, but it also helped someone else, and that’s the point at which most begin to recognize the therapeutic power of their own words.

And that makes writing them even more enjoyable.