Identity and action

how to make things stick in your teams, for yourself, and at home

What you’ll find below:

Remembering Maggie Smith

Recommended listen

How who we think we are supports what keeps us going

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This past week Maggie Smith passed on to eternity, and she will not soon be forgotten. Maggie exemplifies grit in all of her various characters — my favorite, in Downton Abbey, though she had a long acting career, and may be better known most recently for her role in Harry Potter.

I’m not sure how Ms. Smith would have defined her values. But the Dowager Countess in Downton Abbey was utterly brilliant, and all powerful as she made her stuffy way through the stuffy Grantham home. Her character knew who she was — and she was indomitable — and while purpose was not articulated so much in the storyline, we could assume pieces of keeping tradition alive, of maintaining decorum, and more (though later pieces of the story hinted at a more colorful past).

Her wisdom was doled out in short and sometimes piercing remarks. If you’re a fan, this is a delightful walk through some of the best.

“First know thyself”

Whatever our assumptions, nobody would doubt that the Countess knew exactly who she was. And that’s an important foundation for the work of grit and resilience. Not only is it a foundation, but there are specific practices we can do around identity that help to develop and connect to grit. The Masterclass for paid subscribers this week takes you through exercises from multiple perspectives using identity and our understanding of it to strengthen our foundations.

It’s Q4! How are you are using your journals to plan and reflect, and make the most of the end of the year? I’m excited to be partnered with two organizations which help us make the best use of our time, and align our doing with our being — a value I couldn’t agree with more.

Monk Manual and Big Life Journal both are on missions to offer products that align perfectly with the work at The Grit Institute. Monk Manual is the only planner I’ve stuck with, and…