Steve Jobs, Perseverance, and Why Science Says Sometimes You ‘Just Shut Up and Dig the (Gosh Darned) Hole’

Steve Jobs saw mental toughness as a key to success. According to Jobs:  

I’m convinced that about half of what separates successful entrepreneurs from the non-successful ones is pure perseverance. It is so hard. You pour so much of your life into this thing.

There are such rough moments… that most people give up. I don’t blame them. It’s really tough.

Makes sense. Perseverance, the ability to push through failure and adversity and stick to your long-term passions and goals, is often what allows “ordinary” people to accomplish extraordinary things. Sometimes, the people who win are the people to give up on themselves.

But why do some people quit when others keep going? More importantly, why are you and I sometimes able to stay the course, yet other times not?

Researchers who conducted a study published in Wilderness and Environmental Medicine followed over than 200 participants of 155-mile, multistage, desert ultra-marathons and established a causal link between the participants’ coping strategies and whether they finished the races.

Some used what the researchers called “adaptive coping strategies.” Instead of seeing suffering as happening them, they decided to see their extreme discomfort as a challenge, as something they chose. (Which, of course, they had.) Or finding ways to ignore or distract themselves from the pain. 

On the flip side, some participants fell prey to “maladaptive coping strategies.” Like feeling scared by the discomfort and pain they experienced. Or seeing a certain level of pain as a clear signal to stop. (Which, to be fair, seems like a reasonable response.) 

The bottom line? A single occurrence of a maladaptive coping strategy tripled the chances a participant would drop out of a race. We can all relate to that; sometimes one weak moment is enough to unleash an avalanche of negativity, uncertainty, and despair.

And so we quit.

Clearly reframing a setback or roadblock as a challenge — as just another problem to solve — can help you stay the course. So can embracing the small-world rule.

And then there’s this. In a recent Outside magazine article, Dr. Kevin Alschuler, the lead author of the study cited above, recommends a surprising coping strategy.

“A patient and I will talk through their options, and it’s option A or option B,” Alschuler writes. “And they want option C.” 

Except sometimes option C doesn’t exist. “Ultra-athletes,” Alschuler says, “all seem to do a really good job of saying, ‘Well, option C is off the table, and what’s in front of me is either A or B.’”

Searching for option C is normal. To overcome challenges, you need to think outside the box. You need to seek creative solutions. You need to never stop trying to find a way.

That’s what I did that when I built a deck in the dune. I got tired of digging through all the roots and vines and debris, and started thinking about options. I could rent equipment. I could hire people. I could… I could do a lot of things, but none were feasible. 

Worst of all, trying — and then failing, over and over again — to figure out an easier way made the original task seem even more insurmountable. I wasn’t just defeated by the task; I was defeated by my inability to work the problem and find an easier way.

And I almost gave up.

But then I remembered what my dad had told me when I was twelve or so and we were digging footers by hand for a sunroom addition. I was griping, and complaining, and groaning… until finally my dad said, “Sometimes you need to just shut up and dig the (gosh darned) hole.”

The same was true for the dune deck. To paraphrase Ryan Holiday, the way was already in front of me: I could just keep digging. Like most things, success was just a matter of time and effort. Option B, quitting, wasn’t an option if I wanted to build the deck. Option A, keeping my head down and doing the work, would eventually allow me to level the area.

So I accepted that fact and went back to digging. And even though it turned out I had about 20 more hours of digging ahead of me, I felt a lot lighter inside.

Because sometimes the way isn’t option C, or D, or Z. Sometimes, the only way is option A or B.

Or just option A.

And when you accept that, staying the course actually gets easier, not harder — because then you won’t focus on what you don’t have, or can’t control.

You just settle in.

And do what you need to do.