Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

by Angela Duckworth

Some of us care about purpose much more than we care about pleasure, and vice versa.

grittier people are dramatically more motivated than others to seek a meaningful, other-centered life.

Consider the parable of the bricklayers:

only a minority of workers consider their occupations a calling.

“Most of us are looking for a calling, not a job,”

How you see your work is more important than your job title.

In other words, a bricklayer who one day says, “I am laying bricks” might at some point become the bricklayer who recognizes “I am building the house of God.”

A second motivation was missing: interest

Everyone has a spark. And that’s the very beginning of purpose.

you need to observe someone who is purposeful.

“I personally can make a difference.”

own efforts can improve our future.

The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again.

This seminal experiment proved for the first time that it isn’t suffering that leads to hopelessness. It’s suffering you think you can’t control.

Teachers who have an optimistic way of interpreting adversity have more grit than their more pessimistic counterparts, and grit, in turn, predicts better teaching.

change your situation for the better, you stand a chance of finding them. When you stop searching, assuming they can’t be found, you guarantee they won’t.

In other words, she suspected it wasn’t just a long string of failures that made these children pessimistic, but rather their core beliefs about success and learning.

Some of us believe, deep down, that people really can change.

I’ve found that growth mindset and grit go together.

yourself and others.

actions

“Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” This is one of Dave Levin’s favorite quotes,

How do you treat high achievers? How do you react when others disappoint you?

You need to step back, analyze them, and learn from them. But you also need to stay optimistic.” How did

Sometimes I meet fragile perfects in my office after a midterm or a final. Very quickly, it becomes clear that these bright and wonderful people know how to succeed but not how to fail.

update your beliefs about intelligence and talent.

You’re acting in a parentlike way if you’re asking for guidance on how to best bring forth interest, practice, purpose, and hope in the people you care for.

truly believe that when you do something you really want to do, it becomes a vocation.

in the long run, culture has the power to shape our identity.

The way we do things around here and why eventually becomes The way I do things and why.

Indeed, the calculated costs and benefits of passion and perseverance don’t always add up, at least in the short run. It’s often more

culture and identity are so critical to understanding how gritty people live their lives.

Culture building, Anson said, is a matter of continuous experimentation. “Basically, we’ll try anything, and if it works, we’ll keep doing it.”

We’re trying to teach them how to persevere. We’re trying to illustrate to them how they can demonstrate more passion.”

“social multiplier”

one person’s grit enhances the grit of the others, which in turn inspires more grit in that person, and so on, without end.

It stands to reason that supportive and demanding leadership would do the same.