Grit

[43.6N]

Thanks @Marbles

It is being able to see yourself failing, even wishing to fail because it would be easier, but pushing on that represents grit.

Gives me chills, but resonates in the way only true statements can.

 

[BishBeCool]

You can and you can’t. Both are choices and both choices are yours to decide. I know you can brother.

Like you said, some think they have it and don’t (or quit). Others may have never thought about it but when the time comes they do. I do believe it’s something that can be grown though. Two words that come to mind is self discipline and adversity. Having the self discipline to put yourself through adversity can help somebody better gain “grit” and fortitude. Getting up early and working out, running, cold plunge or shower, rucking are some examples. Getting up earlier than you need to can suck, it’s hard, let alone trying to get up earlier to do some of the above activities especially if it’s cold and you’re in a warm bed lol. But that decision moves that that needle one way or the other. You get up and do it (self discipline) because you can and that needle moves in the right direction. Plus, you gain a benefit for the exercises (adversity) etc. that little bit of self discipline followed by the self inflicted adversity in daily small bites and increased over time can build a monster... Just my $0.02. Keep forward

 

[7mm-08]

Yes 100% I’m sure we all have stories about watching people give up on themselves or something they professed to care about simply because their mental guardrails were being crossed

My question is how can we as hunters (or me in this post) build our resistance to giving up too soon?

I agree absolutely. Tenacity certainly seems to be a perishable skill. Maybe not something that you ever lose completely. But live the easy life for a few months or years, and your mental calibration for what suffering is certainly changes.

Finding your comfort level and then passing it sure is uncomfortable!

I think that putting yourself in challenging and uncomfortable situations frequently is the key to honing that sense of when you need to bail and get the hell out of there or just meditating in your tent or under a huge pine and riding it out. Exposure (and the experience from frequency to it), in my humble opinion, is the key to this question. Also, understanding that you sacrificed time working out and being away from your family scouting and preparing for the hunt; resources in the forms of financial commitments to gear, range time and preparation; and the time you missed with your family to pursue a species or a certain animal are all factors you have to reflect upon before pulling the plug.

 

[Sacrvrrat72]

Learned really early on in life anything can happen. I worry about the things I can control and am ready as I can be for the things I can't. I try to be as prepared as possible, but the most important thing is to me is not panicking. Most "emergencies" are solvable if you are prepared and/or don't panic. The majority of the emergencies that are not solvable will get you no matter the situation. There is risk everywhere, understand it, prepare for it, and whatever happens after that my family and I can live with it. Once you get to this point your mind and body are free to work at their best.

 

[SteveAndTheCrigBoys]

Man, so many great responses here. A few quotes come to my mind when I’m struggling on a hunt, considering not going, considering quitting early, etc.

"There can be no great victories in your life unless you overcome adversity. You can't be a great competitor unless you overcome adversity. That's mental." Nick Saban

And as much as I dislike Alabama as an Auburn grad, I respect Saban and it’s a great quote. Not exactly the same subject matter but applicable.

“It is hard to fail, but it is worse to have never tried to succeed.” - Teddy Roosevelt. Or as I’ve heard and repeated that one a different way, “can’t kill em from the couch”.

So when it comes to cultivating that, “never quit mindset” I think of those things. I ask myself if I would be disappointed with myself later if I left early, didn’t put 100% into that next day, or didn’t go at all.

 

[WormSportsman]

There are some great suggestions in here already. I think for me at least there are two things that tie together to keep me ready for whatever the Mountains throw at me. One is staying in good physical condition(for me, not a pro athlete) year round. That seems more important to me as I get older and makes the tougher trips more enjoyable. The second thing is doing stuff that I don’t want to do once or twice a week. That Could be after a full day at work I don’t want to go for a run but I tell my sorry butt to hit the pavement and get a few miles in anyways. Could be it’s crap weather out and cold, windy and snowing on the weekend after hunting seasons are over and I don’t really want to hike but I lace em up and hit the trail anyways. Just pushing yourself out of your comfort zone might help you add a little grit back in for your trip. If you had it before I don’t think it’s gone it just might be buried inside you and you need to pull some of it back out. Good luck on the hunt!

 

[FrankieP1988]

You should ask Brian Call

 

[Yoder]

If I ever look at any form of the most difficult parts of middle class recreation as grit… my man card has been in the dumpster for a while. If you think going out on a nearly $1k tag, with thousands of dollars of equipment in an otherwise healthy body with paid vacation as grit… I have some oceanfront property to sell you

You could just go on a cruise, sit by the pool and try to eat yourself to death. If you are hunting in the mountains, it's going to be hard, it doesn't matter what gear you have. Just because it's fun, doesn't mean it doesn't require some level of grit.

 

[insanelupus]

The older I get the more I realize:

- My only true strength is Jesus Christ.

- I've never been as tough as I once thought I was.

- I've never been as smart as I once thought I was.

- There is much I don't know.

- There is often the possibility I could be wrong.

- There are many people far better at all things than I.

Call that what you wish.

I know who I am, what I am capable of (both positive and negative), and find a freedom in being honest with myself about those things.

 

[Trumpkin The Dwarf]

@Marbles hit the nail on the head. You run out of gas if you’re always trying to drive on E. I don’t know how much grit I have… but I spent 10 years of my life battling a severe autoimmune gut disease. I learned an awful lot about prayer along the way. Physical capacity was very low. And I found you can only get angry and hit the trail anyways so many times before your body stops letting you tap into that well of willpower. Now I’m in my thirties, in much better health, but I still only have very limited “wartime fuel reserves” so to speak. If I’m tired and I try to lift heavy or cover 5-6 miles with a heavy pack I can hype myself up and get hard shit done, but then that tank is empty for weeks or even months. So I try to save that for emergencies.

But getting out of bed when it’s cold on a hunt all boils down to one question for me… “Will I regret my decision come April or May when I’m itching to be chasing big game again?” Learn to be honest with yourself when answering that question, and you won’t have to answer to anyone else on your decision in the field.

 

[bowkill]

So this might not be the most popular response, but I always end up asking myself, "Are you going to be able to live with yourself if you quit?" I think of the time and money that has been committed to the hunt and the sacrifices that my family has made to allow me to go. If I give up and come home early just because of the conditions or the fact that I got sore and tired, what are they going to think of me? What am I going to think of me? I can understand that it might come off as somewhat vain, but if I can use it as motivation, I don't see that much wrong with it.

 

[akcabin]

Just based on myself experiences. First your going out, great start. Do you have confidence in yourself that you can get there and scope it out n come up with a plan ? Just don't plan too much. Take the gear you know.
Don't really know it it can be explained. You just gotta go n see what happens. And deal with the stuff that happens. I've been out with others when bad stuff happened and watched them scream for their lives. Instead of just dealing with the situation. Heck I n was in a way worse spot. But we made it. Not bragging just saying.
Again for me. 45 years ago and a family to feed was a lot of incentive. There wasn't electronics. Just compass n map and lots of land I've never seen. And had to get out there and make mistakes. Later on building our cabin left me pretty exposed to some bad situations by myself in some pretty nasty weather. White out minus temperatures. But I had a dream and a goal. Always had to try n figure out how to try n do things myself.
And I grew to enjoy it more every time out. Still do, well probably appreciate it more now and I can't do what I did physically. But the desire inside me to just get out into the bush is always there. And I'll take any chances that I can get.
Hey you're going to pass by doors of opportunity in your life. Have the confidence in yourself to step through that door n see what's on the other side. It can be so rewarding
Myself dad always told me. If it can be done, then you can do it. Now I don't know if any of this explained grit. But I do know that you can never, never quit

 

[dallas.kc]

I saw The Comfort Crisis mentioned already, I’m reading it right now. Another one that might have been mentioned already that I also just read is Deep Survival, who lives who dies and why. Those two together paint a pretty good picture.

One of the stories that stood out to me from Deep Survival was about a former military guy that had been through some really intense stuff before he got out. Went on a rafting trip and ended up overboard. The guide jumped out to help him get back in the boat and the military fellow pushed him away, laughing, because in his mind this was a cake walk.

He ended up getting sucked under and pinned, he ended up drowning. Point being, don’t be overly confident in your prior experience, be mindful of what is around you.

I don’t know if John Barlow made this quote or if he was quoting someone but it stuck with me: “it’s easy to be hard, but it’s hard to be smart”

It’s a balance for sure. I think those that are most capable of doing the craziest things went through enough “manageable” challenges that when the time came they were prepared for the worst. A lot of daunting things in life seem impossible until you get through them. It’s a biblical principle as well, if you’re into that kind of thing, that if you can’t handle the small things you’ve been given, what makes you think you’re ready for the bigger things God has for you?

A quote from The Comfort Crisis: “Fear is apparently a mindset prior to experience”

Anyway thanks for listening to my TedTalk, I’m a nobody on the internet


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[Weldor]

Just to add some humor, you don't have a cat called General Lee do you? My advice is simple, just don't over think it. Knuckle down get her done and enjoy.