The Fortitude Chronicle: A Weekly Digest of Athletic Determination

Monday’s Mindset

The highest performers in the world possess an undeniable faith that their efforts will yield favorable outcomes. They don’t always know when, yet they know it will come. The reason they know this is that they relentlessly show up every single day, putting in the work without getting bored. Their faith is rooted in their works. It’s called grit.

This might not be the most exciting post or a quick hack to success, but it is about the long, monotonous process of showing up consistently every single day, undeterred. Grittiness can only be earned in the long term. Being gritty is not something earned after one day, one month, or one year. The right to earn the label of "gritty" comes from years of dedicated effort and resilience. The difference between the champions and those who simply qualify is the obsession with the little details that show up every single day. Whatever they need to do for that day to maximize their output, they’re willing to do. They don’t skip the basics. In fact, the basics are normally what they’re best at. Steph Curry doesn’t walk into the gym and start launching 3s. He starts right under the rim to get his form down. Doing the "work" isn’t always sexy. It isn’t always about throwing haymakers. It’s the little things that compound daily that lead to big results. Sometimes, the most productive thing to do is nothing at all. Sometimes a day of pure nothingness is the best recovery you could possibly do. The difference is, champions know their body and mind well enough to know when they’ve earned that nothingness.

The elite aren’t fearless. However, they have a stack of evidence of relentlessly working through their fears. It’s a myth that they don’t get nervous or have self-doubt. The key is they have a mountain of proof of work to fall back on. So, when they get in those headspaces of fear or doubt, they are able to quickly overcome them because they can fall back on thousands of hours of monotonous training. When you have proof, you can tell yourself the truth, that you’re built for the moment. Your first step in overcoming fear is putting in the work. However, you can’t cheat the game. You really can’t. If you don’t have the results you want, it’s because of you and you alone. You either aren’t working as hard as you think you are, you’re skipping the basics, or your process needs to be changed.

I have this belief that you need to lose before you can win. There are zero champions in this world who weren’t faced with catastrophic losses in their life. They simply just never let it hold them back. It acts as a defining moment in their careers that propels them forward. When the best lose, it eats at them, keeps them up at night, and drives them to the point of insanity. However, one thing it doesn’t do is deter them from playing the game. Maybe the most important element of grit is the resiliency in the face of adversity. Long-term goals require passion and perseverance. It’s that passion and perseverance that earns grittiness. Therefore, when losses fall on the elite like a ton of bricks, they don’t quit. They get up and come back again and again and again. The only way they won’t win is if they’re buried six feet underground. They simply love the challenge. They live in the gym, the film room, and the trainer's room. It’s an obsession. As I’ve said before, you can’t beat obsession.

If you want to become a person of grit, then you need to fall in love with the process. You need to fall in love with being boring. There’s no “Ah, I’ll get to it tomorrow,” or “I’ll start that next week.” It’s starting today and doing it every single day with a meticulously engineered process. Then, after a decade of proof, you can call yourself gritty.

 Best Regards,

Colin Jonov, Founder & CEO Athletic Fortitude

P.S. Want to share your experiences or challenges with us? Reply to this newsletter or connect with me on social media @ColkyJonov10. I’m here to support you on your journey!

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