True Grit

Most people think of “grit” as toughness, but grit is much more. For example, when I was a kid I was given a rock tumbler. Maybe you’ve seen one. It’s a little device that turns and turns a little barrel with rocks in it. Eventually the rocks get smooth, and with the right rocks, you get some pretty neat looking stones.

Key to the process is the type of “grit” you add to the barrel. The type of grit you add to the barrel determines the smoothness of the resulting rock. By successively lessening the grit size over time, you get progressively smoother, polished stone. Think of it as sandpapering a rock for longer than your arm could ever hold out.

So how is this a career step? Do you have grit? Do you have the kind of grit that smoothes the things around you until they’re perfectly beautiful?

It takes grit — toughness — to have grit — the ability to make things beautiful — like a beautiful career.