How can you make discomfort work for, rather than against you? On today's episode of Potent, Steven Lawson and Shannon Huffman Polson, founder of The Grit Institute, explore the transformational power of grit, and how you can build grit in your own life to live into a deeper potential through moving towards rather than away from discomfort, change, and difficulty.  Uncover how discomfort, service, and challenging experiences pave the way for transformation and a more purposeful existence. About Today's Guest Shannon Huffman Polson is the author of The Grit Factor: Courage,Resilience and Leadership in the Most Male Dominated Organization in the World, as well as the memoir North of Hope. She is the founder of The Grit Institute, a leadership institute committed to whole leader development, and host of The Grit Factor podcast. Polson also teaches on the faculty of the Tuck School's Leadership and Strategic Initiative Executive Education Program. As one of the first women to fly the Apache helicopter in the U.S. Army, leading line units on three continents, Polson combines her passion and firsthand experience in and study of leadership, grit, purpose and story to address the needs of her clients in the face of challenge and change with world-class keynotes and executive education. After serving for a decade in the armed services, Polson earned her MBA at the Tuck School at Dartmouth, and later her MFA. She went on to lead outstanding teams in the corporate world in the medical device industry and at Microsoft. As a community leader, Polson successfully envisioned, founded and led the completion of a $6.5M new library and civic center. Polson has a decade of experience speaking to companies and organizations around the world, and is consistently the highest rated speaker at her events. Polson lives with her husband and two children in Washington State. https://shannonpolson.com/ https://www.thegritinstitute.com/podcasts/ Show Notes 02:00 The Grit Factor 03:20 Why grit? 04:16 The double crucible 05:50 What to do when the cards are against you? 10:19 Encounters with death 13:23 Courageously engaging death/life 16:52 Danger to be consumed with purpose 18:32 Trusting oneself 19:42 Connect with inner compass 22:36 A holistic approach 24:29 Raising kids with grit  27:55 Belonging and significance 29:55 Doomsday news 32:32 Can't make friends? 33:54 Comfortable with uncomfortable 38:13 Outgrowing the box analogy 39:13 how you navigate growing 42:24 What does great look like 46:14 Trust the process/love the work 47:50 Mary Poppins 50:27 Gratitude changes you 52:36 Look for ways to serve This podcast is brought to you by the Monk Manual. The monk manual is dedicated to providing best-in-class tools for helping you build a more potent life, and experience peaceful being and purposeful doing on a daily basis. If you’d like to be more intentional with your time and energy - please visit monkmanual.com.  The Potent Podcast is produced and edited by Justin Sinclair, who also composed the the theme music. Additional editing support and mixing by Aaron Feeney. Design by Kristin Bural of Soulbeam Studios.