GRIT Team

Monthly missions are the heart and soul of the GRIT Team program. Group size is limited to four participants to ensure safety and maximize the experience for everyone. Each month of the program, you’ll participate in a team mission designed to challenge you in unique ways. Missions build upon one another, becoming increasingly difficult as you move through the program. The final Misogi mission will force you to redefine your comfort zone and ideas about your capabilities. Read more about the format of missions, preparation, and participation requirements.

Because consistency and accountability are integral to success, you’ll participate in weekly check-ins with Jess. These sessions last about 30 minutes, take place via Phone or Zoom, and are designed to make sure you’re tracking toward success. They’re also geared toward getting your mind right. If you haven’t realized how powerful your mind is, you will through this program. GRIT is about more than getting in fantastic shape and having extraordinary adventures (although, those are both given); it’s about the total mind-body transformation you achieve as a result of completing all aspects of the program. During your first check-in, you’ll be asked what you hope to achieve through the GRIT program and how you hope to grow and transform. You’ll work with Jess to set some audacious goals and create a gameplan for each. Maybe you’re sick of your 9-5 and have always wanted to start a business. Perhaps you’ve wanted to write a book, give a TED talk, or sell everything and travel the world. Whatever ideas you’ve been thinking about but haven’t taken action on — wherever you’ve been feeling stuck — check-ins are designed to attack those things. Weekly meetings with your personal cheerleader create a fantastic sense of support and accountability.

In addition to receiving a tailored fitness program, you’ll be invited to participate in a weekly ruck/conditioning workout at the break of dawn, every Wednesday. Meet with your teammates and participants in the other small groups to complete an early morning ruck and conditioning workout. In addition, you’re invited to join Jess on Sundays to complete the long ruck if you prefer company while completing your big miles for the week.  

Because of the incredible catalyzing effect that fitness can have in other areas of life, Operation GRIT uses physical experiences (hard training, discomfort, fitness improvements). Jess has long believed that in order to get yourself “firing on all cylinders,” you have to first get one of those cylinders going strong. Fitness is the starter cylinder of choice because it is less prone to the mental and emotional blocks that can gunk up other cylinders, like spirituality, relationships, mental fortitude, work/business, etc. And leaps in physical fitness have a contagious effect on other areas of life. When people radically improve their fitness, they can’t help but start making improvements to other areas of their lives. You’ll receive daily workouts (and scheduled rest days) centered around rucking and conditioning with minimal gear. If you’re already participating in a comparable fitness program, Jess will tailor your programming to integrate the activities you’re already doing and loving. The non-negotiable in the fitness program are the rucking miles. You must get those in each week.

Change occurs outside the comfort zone but most people rarely get uncomfortable. Modern life has become too easy. Because of this, most people are rattled by experiences of discomfort and become increasingly risk-averse as they age. Look — it’s amazing that we have climate control and down comforters, but we were built for challenges. The absence of uncomfortable or difficult things not only makes us physically and mentally soft, but it undermines our self-image.

The ancient Stoics practiced the principle of intentional discomfort, deliberately exposing themselves to challenging situations to build resilience and mental fortitude. By embracing daily discomfort, we can cultivate strength and adaptability, essential traits for personal growth and success. You’ll be encouraged to begin a “daily discomfort” practice to help rewire your thinking about discomfort and hard things. Maybe you take a cold shower, sit in a sauna, participate in a HIIT workout, integrate intermittent fasting, or make a call you’ve been dreading. Or, you could forgo a comfort (i.e., work out without music) or ditch a bad habit (fast from social media). What you choose for your daily discomfort is less important than the consistency of doing something that makes you squirm a little, each day. 

For participants in the advanced GRIT program, the final Misogi Mission is designed to be one of the toughest things you’ve ever done. This is a 24-hour mission and you will work as a team to get through it (see “misogi rules”). This last mission is a destination event that will take you to one of the most stunning parts of the country. Think of the Misogi Mission as part vacation, part suffer fest — all incredible. Your team will work with two other small Operation GRIT teams during this epic, 24-hour test. The misogi will force you to realize how powerful you are while having the experience of a lifetime. Relax with your teammates at a beautiful ranch the following day to celebrate, eat, and reflect on how far you’ve come. Read more about what’s included in the program fees here.