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When Grit Helps… and When It Hurts

If you’ve been around Summit Stronger for a while, you know I’m a big believer in resilience, consistency, and playing the long game. So when I listened to Mel Robbins’ interview with Angela Duckworth, the researcher who literally wrote the book Grit, it hit me right in the chest.

Because grit has shaped almost every part of my life…
​for better and for worse.

The Version of Grit I Grew Up With

I grew up athletic. Competitive. The kid who was told:

• “Work harder.”
• “There’s no excuse.”
• “Be the captain.”
• “Walk the walk. Lead by example.”

And listen, some of that was good. It made me tough. It taught me discipline. It taught me how to show up even when no part of me wanted to. Those skills helped me build a business, raise a family in a mountain town with unpredictable work, and turn movement into a lifelong passion.

But the darker side?

Everything I did became a performance.​
I wasn’t working hard for the joy of mastery or because it aligned with my values.
I was working hard because I believed I had to earn my place.
Because quitting meant failure.
Because resting meant weakness.
Because anything less than perfection wasn’t an option.

That version of grit isn’t resilience. t’s self-betrayal dressed up as discipline.

When Grit Becomes a Cage

It took me more than a quarter of my life to see it.

In my 30s, I quit a job for the first time. Do you know how long I sat with the shame?

I spiraled. I questioned my identity. I felt like a failure. Because in my old framework, gritty people didn’t quit...ever.

But here’s the wild thing: when I finally stepped away from something that was bad for my mental and physical health… I breathed again. I remembered who I was outside of constant performance. And I found a new job almost immediately, because I was good at what I did. I just needed to get out of the environment that was crushing me.

That moment kicked off over a decade of untangling my relationship with grit.

And (because life is funny like that), I’m at another crossroads now, checking my values, checking my energy, checking what I’m holding onto out of habit rather than alignment. I’m not ready to spill the details yet, but I can tell you this:

Every time I revisit the question “Where is grit serving me, and where is grit harming me?”… my life gets better.

Grit Isn’t Grinding Until You Break

One of the best things Angela Duckworth says is that grit is sustained commitment to a meaningful goal.

Not martyrdom.

Not perfectionism.

Not punishing yourself into achievement.

Grit done right is actually soft.
Quiet.
Steady.
Flexible.
Values-driven.

And this is where my Summit Stronger community comes in, especially my mountain town, "alternative"sport athletes, and everyday athletes trying to stay active in a body that has seen its share of injuries, illnesses, and setbacks.

Resilience Isn’t Built in the Breakdowns

You don’t get resilient from pushing through pain until something snaps.

You build resilience in:

• the choice to come back after illness at 60%, or maybe even 10%... not 100%.
• the rehab you do before you're “too injured to train.”
• the tiny strength sessions when you're frustrated you’re not where you used to be.
• the humility to modify.
• the courage to rest without guilt.
• the patience to rebuild at the pace your body needs, not the pace your ego wants.

That’s real grit. The kind that makes you healthier, not harder on yourself.

Why This Matters for All of Us

Most people think grit is about intensity.

But in truth?

Grit is about identity.

Are you doing the thing because it aligns with who you want to be? Or because you're still performing old scripts that were handed to you?

This is the work I do with my athletes, and clients every day:

• helping you rewrite old stories about what “hard work” means
• helping you build the kind of resilience that doesn’t sacrifice your well-being
• helping you move forward without burning out
• helping you use grit as fuel, not friction

Because whether you're returning from injury, starting over, or navigating the weird, messy middle of life, or goals…

Grit isn’t the grind. Grit is the return.

And you get to choose the version of grit that carries you forward.

With Measured and Intentional Grit,

NBC-HWC | ACSM-CPT

⛰️ Mental PEAKS: The Science of Grit (What It Really Takes to Keep Going)

We throw the word grit around a lot in the fitness, health, and outdoor world, especially in mountain-town culture, where “toughness” gets put on a pedestal. But when you look at the research (thank you, Angela Duckworth), grit isn’t about pushing harder, suffering more, or white-knuckling your way through life.

Grit = passion + perseverance for long-term goals. That’s it. Two parts. Both equally important.

Here’s what the science actually says:

Grit isn’t talent.

Duckworth’s research consistently shows that grit, not natural ability, is what separates people who stay committed from those who burn out or bounce around.

Good news: grit is trainable. Better news: it doesn’t require perfection.

Grit requires meaning.

People stick with challenges longer when their goal connects to their identity or values. This is why forcing yourself to grind for the wrong reasons, people pleasing, old athletic programming, fear of falling behind, leads to exhaustion, not excellence.

When you know why you’re doing something, you naturally become more resilient.

Grit grows in a supportive environment.

Humans are biologically wired for community. Studies show that people are more consistent and more successful when they have:

accountability

a coach

a team or tribe

someone to reflect their strengths back to them.

This is one reason your training improves when you work with someone who actually knows your body, your goals, and your history, not an influencer shouting generic “lift heavier!!” advice into the void.

Grit isn’t max effort. It’s consistent effort.

The research is brutally clear:

Small, repeated efforts beat heroic bursts every time.

Consistency builds myelin in the brain (hello, motor learning), strengthens neural pathways, and creates the identity of someone who follows through.

This is why I hammer foundational patterns, quality reps, and boring-but-effective work in the gym. Boring builds grit. Boring builds mastery. Boring builds results.

Grit and rest have to coexist.

High performers who sustain success share one trait:

They rest on purpose. Chronic overtraining actually reduces grit by impairing:

prefrontal cortex functioning (decision-making)

emotional regulation

motivation

injury recovery

long-term adherence

Translation: If you’re exhausted all the time, gritty isn’t what you are, it’s what you’re pretending to be.

Grit shines most after setbacks.

Research shows that people with higher grit scores are not people who avoid difficulty. They’re the ones who:

re-engage after injury

return after illness

adapt their plan, not abandon it

choose the next best step instead of an all-or-nothing cycle

Grit is the comeback, not the collapse.

Grit strengthens when goals are broken into small wins.

The “micro-goal” approach lights up the brain’s reward centers, producing dopamine, improving motivation, and making behaviors stick.

This is why tracking matters. This is why coaching check-ins matter. This is why celebrating small wins creates big momentum. It’s not fluff. It’s neuroscience.

Bottom Line

Grit isn’t grinding harder. It’s staying connected longer. It’s skill, not suffering. It’s identity, not intensity. It’s values, not vanity. It’s rebuilding, not breaking.

And it’s absolutely something you can grow, at any age, at any fitness level, in any season of life!

📚 Sources & Further Reading

A few of the research-backed ideas behind this week’s PEAKS section.

Grit Defined — Duckworth et al., Journal of Personality & Social Psychology (2007)
​https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.92.6.1087​

Why Effort Beats Talent — Duckworth et al., Social Psychological & Personality Science (2011)
​https://doi.org/10.1177/1948550610385872​

Values, Meaning & Perseverance — Harzer & Ruch, Frontiers in Psychology (2015)
​https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.00165/full​

Support & Accountability Improve Success — Carron et al., Journal of Sport & Exercise Psychology (1996)
​https://doi.org/10.1123/jsep.18.1.1​

Consistency Builds Skill — Fields, Scientific American (2008)
​https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/white-matter-matters/​

Fatigue Reduces Motivation & Decision-Making — Van der Linden et al., Journal of Cognitive Neuroscience (2003)
​https://doi.org/10.1162/089892903321208123​

Overtraining Undermines Resilience — Meeusen et al., European Journal of Sport Science (2013)
​https://doi.org/10.1080/17461391.2012.730061​

Psychological Factors & Return to Sport After Injury — Gomez-Espejo et al., 2022, Movement Science​
​https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.905816​
​
​Why Small Wins Work — Amabile & Kramer, Harvard Business Review (2011)
​https://hbr.org/2011/05/the-power-of-small-wins​

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