A friend of mine was promoted to black belt last month. In his speech, he said something that stuck with me. He wasn’t impressed by other black belts’ technical mastery. He was impressed by their grit. Only now did he understand what they had actually gone through.

The reasons to quit don’t disappear. They stay the same for an entire jiu-jitsu career. New jobs. Lost jobs. Relationships ending. Relationships starting. Injuries. Frustration. Plateaus. The list is endless.

Some people still make it.