#grit

#grit

For Lubetzky, business begins with people. He recalled a South African proverb that says, "We're only human because of other humans," and argued that the same applies to companies. "Community is what makes us human," he said. "Create a community where everyone is in it together." Rather than focusing narrowly on profits, he believes leaders should prioritize building a sense of belonging among employees and customers alike - the kind of trust that sustains a business in good times and bad.

What I believe, though, is that I love fighting not in spite of my athletic limitations but because of them. Fighting is hard. The defining aspect of combat sports is discovering that you are worse at fighting than you had assumed and that getting better will be a grueling process that will chew you up, physically and mentally, unless you spend a life-altering amount of time on it. Therein lies the appeal.

Few traits are celebrated today as much as sheer persistence. We demand it of ourselves as we grind toward the mythical 10,000 hours of mastery. We demand it of our children as they sit through years of standardized schooling that promise career paths their neighbors will envy. We praise athletes for "toughing it out" and entrepreneurs for "grinding harder than others" while we pat ourselves on the back when we "stick with the plan."