Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

About the Author

Angela Duckworth obtained her BA in neurobiology at Harvard and her Master’s in neuroscience at Oxford University. Later, she obtained her Ph.D. in psychology at the University of Pennsylvania. She is currently a professor in psychology at the same university, a 2013 MacArthur Fellow, and founder and CEO of Character Lab – a nonprofit that focuses on helping children thrive. Duckworth has advised the World Bank, NBA and NFL teams, and Fortune 500 companies in her areas of expertise: passion, perseverance, and grit.

Sources: “About the Author” section of the book

Our one-sentence summary

They key to success is grit – fostered passion and deliberate perseverance, developed only when we choose to work hard to deepen our interests and learn to hope.

Publisher’s Summary

In this must-read book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, students, educators, athletes, and businesspeople – both seasoned and new – that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a special blend of passion and persistence she calls “grit.”

Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently noted her lack of “genius,” Duckworth, now a celebrated researcher and professor, describes her early eye-opening stints in teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what drives success is not “genius” but a unique combination of passion and long-term perseverance. In Grit, she takes readers into the field to visit cadets struggling through their first days at West Point, teachers working in some of the toughest schools, and young finalists in National Spelling Bee. She also mines fascinating insights from history and shows what can be gleaned from modern experiments in peak performance. Finally, she shares what she’s learned from interviewing dozens of high achievers.

Source: Book Jacket

Detailed Summary

Part I – What Grit Is and Why It Matters

Chapter 1: Showing Up

• Duckworth was interested in figuring out why, regardless of talent, some cadets would drop out of the United States Military Academy at West Point after going through their seven-week “Beast Barracks” summer program, while others stayed.
• Expanding her field of search, she noticed that other contexts and industries showed the same phenomenon: some people, despite their potential, would quit whenever things got complicated. She noticed that success did not depend on talent or luck, but on people’s ability to continue working hard after failure.
• No matter the domain, the highly successful are those who find pleasure in the chase as much as the capture; people who are determined, resilient, hardworking; and who have a direction – people who have grit.
• After noticing this trend, Duckworth developed a Grit Scale that successfully measured cadets’ likelihood of continuing past the Beast Barracks program. Later, she found it also predicted who stays and who quits within other contexts such as graduate school programs.
• She also found that talent did not play a significant role in predicting whether a person would quit or not. With that, she arrived at a conclusion that guided her future research: “Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another” (p. 14).

Chapter 2: Distracted by Talent

• After working at McKinsey, a global management consulting firm, Duckworth became a teacher. It was during those years that she first began noticing that how successful her students were did not depend so much on talent as much as effort. This insight later inspired her desire to obtain a Ph.D. and investigate this phenomenon further.
• Society tends to focus too much on talent, assuming it is an innate characteristic that will determine our future. The naturalness bias, suggests that, while we say we prefer people who worked have hard to obtain what they have, we end up choosing to work or hire those who are talented or “a natural.”
• Duckworth recounts her years working at McKinsey and how it fostered talent over all things. Then, she warns about the effects of such an overfocus on talent.
• Enron Corporation was a similar company that demanded that employees constantly prove they were smarter than the rest, resulting in a narcissistic culture where people focused on appearances and short-term goals, rather than long-term growth and learning. This is, in part, what led Enron to collapse and become one of the largest corporate bankruptcies in US history.
• Duckworth clarifies that talent is not a bad thing. Overreliance on talent and solely focusing on it discourages the role of effort and grit in influencing success, two factors that are equally if not more important.

Chapter 3: Effort Counts Twice

• Athletics and sports are among the most common domains in which we attribute success to talent. We rarely see the training and practice that athletes go through that make them above average in their performance. So we default to the “natural” label.
• Duckworth relies on Nietzsche to explain why it is that we turn to innate ability as our explanation for success. He once said, “For if we think of genius as something magical, we are not obliged to compare […] and find ourselves lacking…” This mindset lets us relax into a status quo, where we remove effort from the equation. Yet Duckworth’s research suggests that effort counts twice.
  • The success formula is talent x effort = skill, and skill x effort = achievement, where talent means how quickly your skills improve through effort, and achievement is what happens when you use your skills.
  • E.g., John Irving is a famous American novelist who is also severely dyslexic. Since reading and writing didn’t come easily, he learned to overextend in other areas. He learned to appreciate repeating things several times to improve.
• Duckworth recognizes that there are elements outside a person’s control that can also impact success (e.g., a coach). But her theory doesn’t consider these, not because they don’t matter, but because her focus is on the individual.
• When it comes to effort, it’s worth distinguishing between hard work in itself and consistency. How hard we push ourselves matters. But more than that, continuing to work hard, and consistency of effort, will have a greater impact long-term. So more than the grit someone puts into a single day, it’s a matter of showing up agan and again.
• Without effort, talent is unmet potential. Without effort, skill is no more than what we could have done but did not. With effort, talent becomes skill and skill becomes productive.

Chapter 4: How Gritty Are You?

• Grit isn’t simply working hard, although that’s part of it. Rather, grit is about developing expertise and figuring out difficult problems, both of which take time. “It’s doing what you love, but not just falling in love – staying ­in love” (p. 54).
• Grit has two main components: passion and perseverance. From the Grit Scale that Duckworth developed, she noticed that passion and perseverance are usually about the same, although perseverance rates might be a bit higher for most.
• Rather than intense emotions, infatuation, or obsession, passion means consistency over time. Note that enthusiasm is common but endurance isn’t. That’s why, in the Grit Scale, questions about passion ask us to reflect on how steadily we hold goals over time.
• Passion can help develop the overarching goal that guide mid and lower-level goals. And grit is about holding on to the overarching goal for a very long time.
• In a goal hierarchy, the lower-level goals are those that are most concrete and specific. We accomplish them only because they will facilitate obtaining higher-level, more abstract, and important goals. Between these two, there might be several mid-level goals.
  • E.g., Jeffrey Gettleman is a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and the East Africa bureau chief for the New York Times. Contrary to expectation, his passion is not journalism but East Africa. Journalism is simply a means to an end.
  • Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks coach, argues that you have to have a philosophy. His is to do things better than they have ever been done before. A clear philosophy serves as a compass and provides boundaries so that you stay on track.
• Lack of grit can be the result of having incoherent goal structures. You might be able to think of a dream but maybe you can’t find the mid- and low-level goals that will take you there. This is positive fantasizing, which can lead to a lot of disappointment long-term.
• Another common problem is having too many competing mid-level goals. When they fail to connect, they only end up becoming a distraction.
  • This is not to say that you should only have one high-level goal. You might have two, one regarding your professional life and the other about your role as a parent. But having too many can backfire.
• Warren Buffet reportedly once told his pilot that the steps to prioritizing were listing 25 career goals, then circling the five most important, and finally avoiding the remaining 20 at all costs. Duckworth suggests adding one more step: ask yourself, “To what extent do these goals serve a common purpose?”
• At lower levels of the goal hierarchy, consider that, if at first you didn’t succeed, and you’ve tried and you’ve tried again, maybe you also need to try something different. Giving up on a low-level goal is sometimes necessary, especially when you can replace it with a better means to the same overarching end. When it comes to the high-level goal, then you should be as stubborn as possible.

Chapter 5: Grit Grows

• Every human trait is influenced by both genes and experience. Grit is no exception.
• A research team in London administered the Grit Scale to over two thousand pairs of twins in the United Kingdom. They found the hereditability of the perseverance and passion subscales to be an estimated 37% for the former and 20% for the latter.
• While hereditability estimates might explain why people differ from the average, they do not explain anything about the average itself. This observation provides supporting evidence that our environment impacts our growth and development.
• Duckworth has found that the Grit Scale varies by age, with older generations having higher grit scores. One explanation could pertain to generational values and norms that taught the Greatest Generation sustained passion and perseverance (compared to modern generations whose values have a different focus). Another explanation could relate to maturity, learning, growing, and changing over time, i.e., becoming more passionate and perseverant as we age.
  • While a longitudinal study would be the best method to test these hypotheses, the Grit Scale is too recent for such a study to have been executed. Yet research studies in other contexts provide evidence that some biological changes impact personality traits (e.g., puberty or menopause). Still, personality is also impacted by life experiences teaching us lessons. From that, we can extrapolate the conclusion that grit should be no different, meaning it is impacted by all these factors.
• Grit is not fixed, but plastic. It changes, it can be learned, and it can be improved upon.
• Research suggests that the following psychological assets are common among those with the highest grit scores. (These will be covered in greater detail in the next four chapters).
  1. Interest: Passions stem from the inherent joy of doing what you do.
  2. Practice: Perseverance grows from resisting complacency and seeking to improve daily.
  3. Purpose: Passion grows through a conviction that what you do matters.
  4. Hope: Perseverance develops from rising to the occasion, even when we have doubts. Note that hope is not the last stage of grit, but a component present within every stage.
• These four elements are not assets that you either have or don’t. “You can learn to discover, develop, and deepen your interests. You can acquire the habit of discipline. You can cultivate a sense of purpose and meaning. And you can teach yourself to hope” (p.92). 

Part 2 – Growing Grit from the Inside Out

Chapter 6: Interest

• Successful people often tell others to follow their passion (e.g., in commencement speeches). But just as often, we hear that to survive we cannot follow idealistic dreams. Instead, we should find a practical career path that will provide us with a good income.
• Research suggests that people who are interested in what they do are more satisfied with their jobs and overall lives. Yet, statistics show it’s not easy to find enjoyable jobs.
  • In 2014, a Gallup poll found that 2/3 of Americans are not engaged at work. Worldwide, only 13% of people reported being engaged at work.
• Duckworth suggests that your job should capture your attention and imagination. But we shouldn’t tell young adults to follow their passion. That’s because we rarely know what our passions are. Instead, she argues we should advise them to foster a passion.
• While most people think that passionate experts had a moment of epiphany that revealed a calling, the truth is most of them explored and eventually recognized an interest they could keep working on for the rest of their lives.
  • “Passion for your work is a little bit of a discovery, followed by a lot of development, and then a lifetime of deepening” (p. 103).
• A common misconception is that interests are solely discovered through introspection. The truth is that encounters with the outside world trigger our interests. Duckworth argues that your initial discovery of a given interest might go unnoticed.
  • What follows the initial discovery is a proactive period of development – constant retriggers of your attention.
  • Interests thrive when we have a group of people encouraging and supporting us (e.g., parents, teachers, coaches, etc.).
  • Without years of cultivation and refinement, our interests become fragile.
• Experts and beginners have different motivational needs. Beginners need the freedom to try and encouragement to continue. They need small wins, feedback, and practice. But unlike experts, too much practice at an early stage can demotivate a beginner.
  • For a beginner, novelty is anything they haven’t encountered before. For an expert, it’s nuance. An expert has accumulated knowledge and sees what a beginner can’t.
• To get an idea of how to foster a passion and figure out your interests, think about what makes you wonder. What do you really care about? Then, experiment. And if you’ve been doing something for a few years but it is still not a passion, try to deepen your interest. 

Chapter 7: Practice

• Anders Ericsson performed research on skill development. In tracking how experts improve skills, he found that as people get better, the rate of improvement slows. But this is true for everyone. What differs is the timescale on which such improvement happens.
• Ericsson found that experts not only spend hours practicing but they engage in deliberate practice. They set stretch goals that focus on one aspect of their performance, seeking to improve weaknesses. And they work hard until they reach that goal, only to set a new one.
• Duckworth conducted studies in the context of spelling bees. Deliberate practice was the best predictor of success compared with any other form of preparation (including fun).
• Deliberate practice has been described as an experience of supreme effort. And for many, it is not enjoyable –which explains why retired experts and performers discontinue it. The joy comes from achieving a goal.
• Other research suggests the signature experience of experts is flow – a state of complete concentration where we perform at high levels but it feel effortless.
• Noticing these seeming contradictions, Duckworth began assessing flow among those who reported higher rates of grittiness in her scale. Grittier adults reported more flow.
  • Duckworth concluded that gritty people do more deliberate practice and experience more flow, arguing that these two experiences do not occur at the same time.
  • People engage in deliberate practice to improve a skill, and experience flow when they are not in “problem-solving” mode.
• Experts say that practicing without improvement is its own form of suffering. Gritty people appear to enjoy hard work. Whether they spend time in deliberate practice and learn to enjoy it, or they enjoy it and therefore engage in it, remains to be determined.
• Aside from finding a coach, to get the most out of deliberate practice and experience flow,
  1. Know the science: It’s not simply practicing for hours and getting exhausted. It’s strategically focusing on areas of improvement for a few hours a day.
  2. Make it a habit: Figure out when and where you’re most comfortable doing deliberate practice. Make it a routine until it becomes a habit.
  3. Change the way you experience it: We tend to feel scared by challenges because we fear embarrassment. If we can change our mindset and instead focus on learning, we can change how we experience deliberate practice.

Chapter 8: Purpose

• Purpose is the intention to contribute to the well-being of others. Mature passions of gritty people depend both on deepened interests and this form of purpose.
• Aristotle recognized that there are two ways to pursue happiness:
  • Eudaemon life: in harmony with one’s good spirit.
  • Hedonic life: positive, in-the-moment gratification, and self-centered experiences.
• Both the Eudaemon and the Hedonic approaches to happiness stem from evolutionary roots. Often we seek pleasure because what gives us pleasure increases the chance of our survival and that of the species (e.g., sex and food). Similarly, we are social creatures, and caring for others also helps our survival and that of our species.
• Even though we are hardwired to pursue both forms of happiness, and neither of them is inherently bad, pursuing Hedonic happiness with greater emphasis can deprive you of finding a purpose.
• According to Duckworth’s research, grittier people are more motivated than others to seek other-centered lives. Her claim is that purpose is a powerful source of motivation.
• While interest is crucial to sustaining passion over the long term, so is the desire to connect and help others. Sometimes, this comes in the form of altruistic purposes that impact others. But other times, interests evolve.
  • E.g., wine critic Antonio Galloni says his mission is to “help people understand their palates.” To him, passion comes from walking into a restaurant and seeing a bottle of wine on people’s tables.
• People can find purpose in their everyday job. Yet only a minority see their occupations as a calling. Those who do are more satisfied with their work and overall life. And most of us want more than just a job. Duckworth argues that finding purpose is often a matter of perspective, and, citing previous research, suggests we can find a calling in any occupation.
  • Think about the parable of the three bricklayers, where, when asked, one said he’s laying bricks, the other that he’s constructing a church, and the last one that he’s building the house of God. The three of them have the same occupation but each of them viewed their work and a very distinct manner.
• Adam Grant, a colleague of Duckworth’s, suggests that self-oriented and other-oriented goals are not opposite ends on a continuum. People can have neither, one or the other, or both. His research suggests that, only when people enjoy their work and have a desire to help, will they put in more effort than what is required.
• According to Bill Damon, a Stanford developmental psychologist, a beyond-the-self orientation needs to be cultivated deliberately. We also need to observe someone purposeful so that we can see what can be accomplished on behalf of others.
• Duckworth recommends three main strategies to begin cultivating effort:
  1. Reflect on how the work you’re doing can help make a positive contribution to society.
  2. Think about how you can change your work to connect it to your core values.
  3. Find inspiration in a purposeful role model.

Chapter 9: Hope

• Duckworth differentiates two forms of hope. The first is the expectation that tomorrow will be better than today. It’s yearning for something. But the hope on which grit depends is the expectation that our own effort will improve the future. This form of hope has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting back up again after a fall.
• Research in cognitive therapy has shown that contrary to common belief, hopelessness doesn’t come from suffering. It comes from suffering and thinking we have no control over our circumstances. Such a lack of control is associated with depression and anxiety.
• Optimists are people who search for the specific causes of their suffering, meaning they see it as temporary and solvable. Pessimists assume it’s permanent and out of their control, and they blame it on pervasive causes. Such an approach to explaining any bad situation turns minor complications into catastrophes. And when causes are pervasive, the only solution is to give up.
• In her research, Duckworth found that gritty people are more optimistic and hopeful.
  • E.g., a study whose participants were teachers of the foundation Teach for America found that optimistic teachers were grittier and happier, which in turn, explained why their students achieved more and better in the school year.
• Duckworth refers to Carol Dweck’s work on mindsets and the impact of the growth mindset (vs fixed) in building hope, similar to the role of optimism.
  • A growth mindset perceives intelligence and talent as something that we can work on and improve. A fixed mindset views these as unchangeable and innate.
  • A growth mindset leads to optimistic self-talk, which in turn results in perseverance over adversity.
• According to Steve Maier’s research, debilitating trauma during the early stages of our lives (up to adolescence) can hardwire our brains to react in a specific way when we experience adversity. If this trauma was experienced with a sense of no control, it can impact the way people approach negative events in the future.
• While this is particularly troublesome for children who grow up in extreme poverty, Duckworth makes note of the danger behind erring on the other side of the spectrum. When we overprotect children, we can deprive them of controlled failure, which would teach them how to fall and get back up again.
• To learn to hope in the context of grit, Duckworth provides the following strategies:
  1. Update your beliefs about intelligence and talent.
  2. Practice optimistic self-talk.
  3. Ask for a helping hand.

Part 3 – Growing Grit from the Outside In

Chapter 10: Parenting for Grit

• There is a common debate in society about parenting styles, where some believe authority and strictness are better, and others think it’s about permissiveness, unconditional love and support. Duckworth believes in a mixture of both.
• There is a lot of research about parenting styles and some about grit. But there really isn’t anything on parenting and grit. The conclusions Duckworth arrives at and covers through this chapter come from interviews, probes, and extrapolations from other research.
• Duckworth interviewed Steve Young and his parents, and Francesca Martinez and her parents – two families that appear opposite in their parenting styles.
• Steve Young is a legendary former quarterback of the San Francisco 49ers, twice MVP in the NFL and MVP of Super Bowl XXIX, when he set a record by completing six touchdown passes.
  • Though the star of his high school team, he was the eighth quarterback on Brigham Young University’s team. He was so frustrated that he called his father and said he wanted to quit. His father’s response was “You can quit. But if you do, you can’t come home.” So he practiced relentlessly. In one year, he became the second string quarterback on the team. By his junior year, he was BYU’s starting quarterback. In his senior year, he received an award for most outstanding quarterback in the country.
  • As harsh as such a statement appears, Duckworth goes on to explain that it came out of a place of love. As Young describes, his father knew him and what he was capable of. When Duckworth met his parents, she was surprised that they came across as so kind. They were also extremely gritty and, most importantly, supportive. They taught their kids discipline, they modeled grit, and they were always there, attuned to their emotional needs and supporting them.
• Francesca Martinez is among the funniest comics in Britain. She was diagnosed with cerebral palsy at age two (although she prefers the term wobbly). Her parents were told she would never lead a normal life.
  • When Francesca was sixteen, she decided to drop out of school and pursue a career in entertainment. Counselors told her to look for a job in computers. Achieving comedic stardom takes grit no matter what, but especially if you have difficulty moving or talking. Yet when she asked her parents, they said, “Follow your dreams.”
  • As permissive as this might appear, when interviewing the parents, Duckworth found they had been teaching their kids the value of hard work throughout their lives. Francesca’s father said, “I’m allergic to spoiled children.” He explained that he knew the importance of love and acceptance, but that that didn’t mean you failed to educate your children by setting boundaries. He constantly pushed his daughter to do her physical therapy exercises, even when she didn’t want to.
• From these stories, Duckworth observes a pattern: there is no either/or between positive or demanding parenting. Both families were child-centered, incredibly supportive, and loving yet authoritative, and they modeled grit.
• Duckworth explains that there is a newer version of the parenting styles guide, where grit showcases the four forms:
  1. Permissive: Highly supportive but very undemanding.
  2. Authoritarian: Highly demanding, but very unsupportive.
  3. Neglectful: Both undemanding and unsupportive
  4. Wise (or authoritative): Highly supportive and
• Like parents, other people can play a role in teaching and modeling grit. Mentors have played a fundamental role in many of Duckworth’s gritty study participants. Teachers can also similarly impact children. Research suggests that teachers can have teaching styles that match those of the parenting styles.
• “Not every grit paragon has had the benefit of a wise father and mother, but everyone I’ve interviewed could point to someone in their life who, at the right time and in the right way, encouraged them to aim high and provided badly needed confidence and support” (pp. 219-220).
• Duckworth suggests that you don’t need to be a parent to help others become grittier. 

Chapter 11: The Playing Fields of Grit

• While the evidence of the effect of extracurricular activities is and will probably remain incomplete (as no parent or researcher would want to force kids to stay in or out of any activities for the sake of an experiment), research does point to their being key to developing grit and influencing success.
  • School can be hard, but many kids aren’t intrinsically interested in it. Social media might be interesting but it is not hard. Extracurricular activities can offer the needed balance between interest and challenge.
• Duckworth recommends that, as soon as our children are old enough, we should sign them up for an extracurricular activity, ideally of their choice.
• Research shows that those who grew up involved in extracurriculars fare better – from better grades and higher self-esteem to reduced likelihood of getting into trouble.
• Specifically, research has found that those who spend more than a year in extracurriculars are more likely to graduate college. Faring better in aspects of adulthood such as having a steady job or earning more money was associated with participating in extracurriculars for two
• In one of the biggest studies that examined several student factors’ ability to predict success, follow-through was the strongest predictor. Here, follow-through means a purposeful, continuous commitment to activities in high school (compared to sporadic efforts in diverse areas).
  • Additionally, those students who reported higher rates of follow-through were also those who participated in two different extracurricular activities for several years.
• Duckworth recognizes that, like any self-report scale, the Grit Scale can be easily manipulated. To replicate the research described above, but with grit as the predictor, she developed the Grit Grid – a measure of whether students participate in extracurriculars, and how they’d distinguished themselves in them (e.g., achievements, awards, leadership positions, etc.).
  • She found that students with higher Grit Grid scores were also higher in grit and were perceived as grittier by their teachers. Such scores effectively predicted whether students would stay in college.
• With the current research, it is unclear whether extracurriculars foster grit or if gritty people are more likely to stay in extracurricular activities for longer terms. Duckworth’s educated guess is that it’s a mix of both. Following through on our commitments requires grit but they probably build it too.
• Robert Eisenberg has long studied the association between working hard and earning rewards. He found that there is such a thing as learned industriousness (an ability to learn such an association). Without directly experiencing the connection between effort and reward, we default to laziness.
• As a mother, Duckworth recognizes that it can be hard to provide feedback to our children as we often feel compelled to praise them no matter what. She argues that extracurriculars offer a superior playing field for grit development and recommends that parents adopt her Hard Thing Rule (which she uses in her home).
  1. Everyone (including parents) must do a hard thing that requires deliberate practice.
  2. You can quit, but only until the season, semester, tuition payment, etc. is up. That is, only when a natural stopping point has arrived. You cannot quit the day a teacher yells at you, you lost a race, or before the recital.
  3. You get to pick your hard thing. We want to foster interest.
  4. When your kids are in high school, the commitment to the hard thing must be for at least two years. 

Chapter 12: A Culture of Grit

• The culture in which we live impacts our identities. Here, culture means the psychological boundaries that make up given differences among people, including their norms and values.
  • The companies that we work for, for instance, foster a culture that impacts the way we perform and behave.
• Duckworth argues that finding a gritty culture will help anyone become grittier. Similarly, if you’re a leader and you want people to become grittier, you have to create a gritty culture.
  • Dan Chambliss, an expert in the study of expertise, argues that in the time since his landmark study from three decades before this book’s publication, he had found a new key factor that impacts success. In the context of swimmers, he found that teams have a huge role. He explains that we all tend to think that people need to be extraordinary to have the discipline to wake up at 4 am every day and train. Yet, if everyone else around you does it, it’s not as big a deal for you to do it too.
  • He contends that an easier way to develop grit is to rely on our natural desire to fit it – conformity. If you’re surrounded by gritty people, you’ll become gritty.
• Another important aspect of a culture is its impact on personal identity. We internalize the values and norms of the group that we belong to, and then, behaviors become habitual.
  • Gritty-or-not decisions are often a matter of identity. Sometimes, we make decisions based on cost-benefit analyses. But other times, we don’t think at all. The calculated costs and benefits of passion and perseverance don’t always add up, especially short term. So, cost and benefits don’t explain gritty people’s decision-making processes. Identity, on the other hand, does.
• Pete Carroll, the Seattle Seahawks coach (NFL), saw Duckworth’s TED Talk and invited her to go watch his team practice. He told her, “All we do is help people be great competitors. We teach them how to persevere. We unleash their passion.” (p. 244).
  • Duckworth went to visit just after the team had lost the Super Bowl. She wanted to know their views on the matter and how they found the courage to continue.
  • During her visit, she learned about their values. E.g., Always competing means more than defeating others. It’s doing your best. Finishing strong points to the fact that starting strong is easy. Maintaining that strength from start to finish requires effort. Being early is about excellence and respect.
  • The way they found the strength to continue, Duckworth found, is learning.

Chapter 13: Conclusion

• Duckworth insists that everyone can grow their grit. You can do it either “from the inside out” (cultivating interests, developing a habit of deliberate practice, connecting to a higher purpose, and learning to hope), or “from the outside in” (depending on other people such as coaches, parents, mentors, and friends).
• Duckworth also clarifies grit isn’t everything in life. It might foster success, but success and happiness are not the same thing. However, research does suggest they are associated. Those with higher levels of grit tend to report higher degrees of life satisfaction.
• Character is complex. Grit is a key part of it, but other factors are as important. “…greatness and goodness are different, and if forced to choose, I’d put goodness first” (p. 273).
• Three reliable clusters make up our complete character: the intrapersonal (will), the interpersonal (heart), and the intellectual (mind).
  • Intrapersonal character includes grit, self-control, and management skills.
  • Interpersonal character includes gratitude, social intelligence, and emotional control. These are virtues that help develop moral characteristics, which are the things that most people will remember about us.
  • Intellectual character includes zest and curiosity.
  • These three virtue clusters predict different outcomes. E.g., for achievement, intrapersonal (the one that includes grit) is the most important. But for social functioning, the interpersonal character is more important.
• Ultimately, to be gritty is to hold tight to a purposeful goal, continuing to put one foot in front of the other despite setbacks. Grit is about overcoming challenges. “To be gritty is to fall seven times and rise eight” (p. 275).

Afterword – Questions About Grit

• The following are frequently asked questions about grit:

• • Q: What about work-life balance? Doesn’t grit come at a cost?
  • A: Yes, the time you put into following your passion and purpose is time you won’t spend relaxing, with family, or with friends. But how you allocate your time is up to you. Curate your goals and find a balance that works for you.

• • Q: Can you lose grit? Can passion turn to burnout?
  • A: Burnout can come from many things that are not your passion in and of themselves (e.g., the industry is changing, you don’t feel like you’re having an impact, or your boss is a bully). But burnout is real. You have to identify the cause and, sometimes, telling others about grit helps renew our grit.

• • Q: Is there a relationship between grit and socioeconomic opportunity?
  • A: Developing passion and perseverance is possible for anyone. That’s not to say that trauma, poverty, discrimination, and uncertainty don’t impact development. Yet, overparenting, common among the extremely privileged, can also harm learning grit and hope.

• • Q: What about grit and romantic relationships?
  • A: While you should be cautious about with whom you decide to form romantic relationships, finding a soul mate is not something that simply happens. It’s something you need to work for. Soul mates are made over time.

• • Q: Due to social media and instant gratification, can we conclude that we live in an especially ungritty era?
  • A: As mentioned in Chapter 5, there is an association between age and grit, where older people are grittier. It’s hard to say for sure what the cause is, age in itself, or cultural norms and values. Yet, given an experiment where it was found that young people prefer to voluntarily administer electric shocks to themselves than to stay alone with their thoughts for seven minutes, Duckworth does warn about the overuse of technology and its possible impact on young people’s development.

• • Q: I want my kid to develop grit. When can I expect them to have the single-minded focus of mature world-class achievers?
  • A: Duckworth proposes abiding by the Hard Thing Rules (see Ch. 11) and the Fun Thing Rules. The first set is made up of having your kids do something that requires deliberate practice, agreeing that they won’t quit in the middle of the season/semester, and letting them choose the activity. The latter is about letting them explore interests of their own, even if they seem like they never lead to something serious.

• • Q: Is grit the only psychological factor that determines success?
  • A: Not at all. Grit isn’t as necessary for everyday functioning as much as self-control, for instance. The same is true for making friends; emotional intelligence is more important than grit. These are two examples, but many more characteristics impact success.