Part 2 of my GRIT Framework: Resilience
Five years sober. Still broke. That wasn’t the life I fought for.
One night, I grabbed a piece of paper and wrote at the top:
WHAT DO I WANT MY SOBRIETY TO LOOK LIKE?
My list was simple but bold:
$100,000 in the bank
A heart filled with gratitude
Extra money each month to help others
A healthy relationship — a true 50/50, not me always carrying the weight
Then I wrote the actions beside each goal. And I realized: if I wanted my agency to be worth something, I needed to own billboard assets. But I didn’t have capital, investors, or great credit. What I had was grit.
For 12 weeks straight, I drove into Detroit and knocked on doors. No, not interested. No, not interested. Until finally, in week 12, a woman who owned a building said: “Let’s do it.”
I had no money for rent, let alone a lease. I asked for 120 days to market the wallscape. Then I landed T-Mobile. National agencies take months to pay, so I went to my credit union with the contract in hand and asked for a 120-day note to cover costs.
That one wallscape changed everything. I went from living paycheck to paycheck to building something real. And today, 10 years later, I still own that asset, and it’s worth a great deal.
That’s resilience. Not just surviving the wreckage but daring to rebuild something better.
What would rebuilding look like for you right now? And if you’ve already walked through it, share your story — it might be the hope someone else needs today.
(This is Part 2 of my GRIT Framework. My book, Unshakable, includes a 30-Day GRIT Challenge designed to help you dig deep, find your inner strength, and start your own rebuild.)
