In her book, “Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance,” Angela Duckworth writes that talent and IQ matter, but without genuine effort, they’re merely the promise of what’s possible.
Grit means completing a project in spite of obstacles. Since every project or work of passion presents obstacles, grit is the only thing that makes a project succeed.
According to Duckworth, grit can be developed by cultivating interests, practice, purpose, and hope–and associating with people who are gritty themselves. Cultivating grit is the relentless discipline of trying to do things better, of blending your moments of deliberate practice to stretching outside your comfort zone. At the same time, hope enables you to persevere when things get tough. By fostering the belief that your talent and abilities improve with practice, you’re able to think more optimistically by testing the reasons behind setbacks and failures.
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While grit can be advanced from within, having similar people around to whom you can turn for help and encouragement is critical to achieving what matters to you the most.
In pursuit of their passion, people are often tempted to quit. That could be because they’re bored or don’t think a project is sufficiently important. Here’s where perseverance should come in so that they press on.
But what if they don’t persevere?
To get insight into your passion, ask these questions: What matters most to me? What would I rather be doing? What do I like to think about? Where does my mind wander? How do I spend my free time? What do I find unbearable?
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Publisher: Scribner, an imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
Pages: 352
