Photo: Le Big USA
Building grit and desire is often thought of as something born from struggle, but that’s only part of the story. While coming from a challenging background can foster resilience, grit is a skill anyone can cultivate intentionally, regardless of where they start. Many successful athletes, including Haiden Deegan in motocross, demonstrate that grit isn’t just the product of hardship. It’s something they build, hone, and draw on from their inner drive—and sometimes from darker, primal aspects of themselves.
What is Grit?
Grit is the combination of passion and sustained effort despite obstacles. Those with grit don’t quit when things get tough; instead, they become more determined. Grit is not simply an innate quality; it’s something anyone can develop with intention, practice, and mental resilience. Racers with true grit stand out and we all have different riders that we can remember for certain performances, where they simply didn’t give up whilst pushing through tough situations, they find another gear from nowhere like when Eli Tomac enters beast mode.
Breaking the Myth: Grit is Born Only from Hardship
There’s a common belief that only those who have faced great adversity can have true grit and those of a more privileged background don’t develop the same mental toughness. While growing up with limited resources or overcoming challenges can forge resilience, grit can just as powerfully emerge from passion and intentional drive. Many athletes from supportive, well-resourced backgrounds—like Deegan—have shown that grit isn’t about your starting point; it’s about your determination to reach your goals, even when things are within reach. This form of grit can be forged by taking on challenges, facing failures, and pushing personal limits. Haiden in this particular case is the perfect example.
Photo: Moto playground
Case Study: Haiden Deegan
Haiden Deegan, a young motocross star, exemplifies the development of grit despite having a supportive background. As the son of motocross and freestyle legend Brian Deegan, Haiden had access to top-tier training, funding and resources. Yet, he’s known for his relentless drive to prove himself as an individual competitor, not just “Brian Deegan’s son.” He constantly pushes his limits, trains harder, and stays ruthlessly committed. His journey demonstrates that grit is built from within, fuelled by his desire to compete, his willingness to face setbacks, and, importantly, his ability to draw on his inner “shadow” and use it productively.
Embracing the Shadow Side and Building a Strong Ego
The best athletes often tap into aspects of themselves that aren’t typically encouraged in daily life. Grit and desire sometimes emerge not just from overcoming obstacles but from channeling one’s darker, primal instincts—those competitive, aggressive, or even ego-driven impulses. This shadow side, when harnessed, becomes an invaluable source of energy that athletes use to stay resilient, push harder, and remain unyielding.
For athletes like Deegan, sports become a game of mental mastery where they learn to draw on this “darker” side of themselves, whether it’s through self-competition, using frustration or anger as fuel, or developing a strong, assertive ego. This robust ego doesn’t mean arrogance but rather a deep, unshakeable belief in their worth and abilities. Athletes who use this energy transform setbacks into opportunities to train harder, channeling it into focus and determination.
How Anyone Can Build Grit and Desire
Whether coming from a background of challenge or privilege, anyone can cultivate grit with the right mindset and practices. Here are some steps for building it:
1. Set Ambitious Goals: Aiming for difficult, meaningful goals pushes you to commit deeply, creating opportunities to face and overcome obstacles.
2. Learn from Failure: Failure can ignite grit. Instead of letting it hold you back, use setbacks as chances to learn, recalibrate, and come back stronger. Drawing from the Frustration or perceived shame of losing can ignite the fire to never experience that again and double down on efforts to dominate.
3. Develop a Growth Mindset: Believing that skills and intelligence can be developed through effort helps you see challenges as opportunities rather than obstacles.
4. Tap into Purpose and Motivation: When driven by purpose—such as achieving a dream, proving yourself, or even personal pride—motivation becomes sustainable.
5. Channel the Shadow and Ego into Training: Embrace every part of yourself, including the fierce, competitive side. Allow it to fuel your focus and drive, and use it to maintain a competitive edge.
6. Build Discipline: Create routines, hold yourself accountable, and stay consistent. This structure reinforces grit by making resilience a daily practice. Go without certain luxury’s and distractions to focus fully on the task of training and competing. Create ways to practice pain and suffering.
Grit as a Skill, Fuelled by Passion and the Shadow Side
For athletes like Haiden Deegan, building grit isn’t just about overcoming obstacles but about embracing their whole selves, including the shadow side and the strength of a well-formed ego. Grit and desire are cultivated by pursuing goals that push one’s limits, learning from setbacks, and harnessing every part of oneself—even the darker impulses—to create a mental edge. In this way, grit isn’t just a reaction to hardship; it’s a cultivated skill, a personal edge that’s mastered by embracing both the light and dark within.
What’s fueling your drive? Reflect on the challenges you’re ready to embrace and the parts of yourself that you can channel to build true grit.
If you’re looking to develop this edge and need some guidance along the way, we’re here to help. Begin your path to grit boldly—your journey starts here.
Coach Gary
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