“Grit is a devotional discipline of self-love and self-care,” says Nate. “It is about having enough respect for yourself to be able to show up for the things and the people that make you feel good.”

Nate kicks off the first of The Solitude Chronicles with a discussion on the power of grit.

After a few months of dealing with bladder cancer, through two surgeries and 12 sessions of chemo, Nate has been on a promising road to recovery, keeping in mind that it is almost always better “to let unanswered things stay unanswered.”

This experience taught Nate a thing or two about grit. The term is traditionally defined in one of two ways: “a small loose particle of stone or sand” or “courage and resolve, strength of character.” To him, both definitions hold weight.

Grit is traditionally thought of as toughness that involves a lot of teeth-gritting and fist-clenching. Nate invites us to consider what it means to have grit in a different light: grit as self-love.

That is, instead of allowing our inner critic to shame us for not doing, having, or being enough, we replace that destructive voice with one that forgives, has compassion, and allows us to show up for ourselves and others.

Key Topics:

• An update on Nate’s cancer journey (02:04)
• The traditional definition of grit (03:33)
• Grit as self-love (05:05)
• Showing up for ourselves by showing up for others (08:42)
• Moving forward regardless of how you feel in the present moment (10:39)
• Allowing love to flow by visualizing the people you are grateful for (12:48)
• Moving forward with a new definition of grit (14:48)

Resources:

• Cold Water Hot Coffee
• Jay Shetty, 8 Rules Of Love
• Quoted:  Angela Lee Duckworth
• Endurance Photo in blog post by Jon Tyson via Unsplash.com

Nate sits down with Dr. Matthew Asciutto, ER Relief Veterinarian and owner of BindleVet. He is also the host of The Greatest Profession podcast, “an interview-style investigation of the humanity of veterinary medicine.”

Nate and Matt reflect on the turbulence of life, agreeing that it’s not in the highs that we extract the greatest rewards, but from the lows. By coming to peace with that, you also derive joy and contentedness in your day-to-day.

Matt discusses “the circuitous route” that led him to pursue veterinary medicine, and why he was recently inspired to start The Greatest Profession podcast, and to write his first book which he had completed shortly before sitting down with Nate.

He shares how combining his love for veterinary medicine with his passion for music and the performing arts has made his career so much more fulfilling, noting that “doing ER and doing improv is basically the same!”

Finally, Matt tells us how he is able to tap into his creativity consistently by establishing daily habits and a process to achieve his goals on time.

Key Topics:

• Life is a series of ups and downs (03:40)
• Maintaining your creativity and optimistic vision for life during the hard times (05:29)
• Starting The Greatest Profession and writing his first book (08:58)
• Combining the sciences with creativity (12:15)
• Tapping into your creativity (14:12)
• Focusing on the process (16:39)
• Rapid-fire questions from Mom (20:18)

Resources: 

• Cold Water Hot Coffee
• Dr. Matthew Asciutto on LinkedIn
• The Greatest Profession Podcast
• BindleVet

To kick off the new year, Nate reflects on the healing power of the mind.

He gives his thoughts on what it means to adopt a healthy perspective and the impact that our frame of mind can have on our overall health.

Nate explains that even the most well-intentioned people occasionally let their monkey mind and ego take them to a dark place when things don’t go according to plan—something that we can all relate to, especially coming off of 2022!

But he also reminds us that tough moments, no matter how grueling, are all just moments in time.

Nate encourages us to become the hero of our own story by making peace with uncertainty, and by committing to living a fully engaged life full of gratitude and joy regardless of our circumstances.

Key Topics:

• Looking back at the ups and downs of 2022 (01:37)
• Nate’s health updates (03:24)
• Seeing all bad moments as brief moments in time (06:37)
• Making peace with uncertainty (09:02)
• Becoming the hero of your own story (12:39)
• Choosing stillness over reactiveness (15:45)
  
  

Resources: 

• Cold Water Hot Coffee