Have you ever heard the phrase “grit your teeth and bear it?” It’s used when someone is going through a tough time or situation and must keep pushing forward. In today’s psychological terms, ‘grit’ refers to perseverance, confidence, and following through on your goals. In Angela Duckworth’s Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, we dive into what ‘grit’ is and how to build it.
As the daughter of a scientist, Duckworth was frequently told she was “no genius.” Grit shares Duckworth’s journey from being a middle school teacher to her work in psychology, which led her through Harvard, Oxford and the University of Pennsylvania – and ultimately to being a MacArthur “Genius” Fellow. She is living proof that hard work and passion yield remarkable results.
Grit also shares the findings of Duckworth’s research on the subject. She shares stories and interviews of high achievers and successful individuals in various careers and fields. Her case studies and evidence led her to the conclusion that passion and perseverance carry people further than just natural talent. This is because perseverance and passion drive effort, and effort drives achievement.
In Duckworth’s research she uncovers three main conclusions. First, while we might say we believe hard work is more important than talent, studies and experiments show we actually still believe the opposite deep down. In one study, subjects were asked to listen to two tapes of the same musical piece– one performed by someone described as a hard worker and one performed by someone described as having natural talent. The listeners thought the naturally talented performer sounded better, but in actuality the two tapes of music were the exact same piece by the exact same person. This study showed our bias toward talent over hard work.
The second conclusion Duckworth came to is that effort has a much bigger impact on achievement than talent. She believes that effort has an exponentially greater impact on achievement than talent does. She uses the following formulas to illustrate her point: Talent x Effort = Skill and Skill x Effort = Achievement. In order to achieve something, you first need to refine your talent through effort to get the right skills to work towards the goal or achievement. Then, when you have that skill, you also need to work at it for some length of time in order to get to your ultimate goal.
Third, you must combine small, daily goals with your bigger vision in order to keep consistently motivated. To grow grit, Duckworth believes you need a passion – something big that’s meaningful to you and inspires you. Then you need to have small, achievable, daily goals, to help you take stepping stones and make progress toward your goal. These small victories help to keep you motivated.
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance is a great read for anyone who has or works with children. Helping our children develop grit could be one of the greatest lessons and gifts we ever give them.