Grit, and the quitting that starts when it goes well

Grit here means two things held together. One is passion for a single long goal. The other is steady effort toward it.

The effort is what carries you past the hard parts. It keeps you moving when the goal is still far off.

This kind of effort, the idea goes, helps people get past obstacles on the way.

It is right that long goals need more than a burst of drive. It is right that effort over years adds up.

It is right to point at the hard middle, where many people give up. That stretch is real.

Some people do not quit in the hard middle. They quit near the end, just as it starts to work.

The raise is close, or the project is almost done, and a small choice undoes it. That is not a lack of effort.

Success Sabotage is the name for that pattern. You undo things just as they start to go well.

Behavioral Interception is the practice of catching an automatic pattern as it begins, intercepting its usual response, and practicing a different action until it becomes more natural.

It works in the seconds after good news. First you feel the body signal, a restless buzz or a tight chest, and name the pattern.

Then take the next small step you had planned, not the exit. Repeat it each time the signal comes back.

Keep the book for the long haul. Use practice for the moment the finish line comes into view.