Grit: Passion, Perseverance, and the Science of Success
Ratings25
Average rating4.1
My second favorite book of the year on the psychology of high achievement, after Anders K. Ericsson's awesome Peak. Highly recommended read for anyone searching for their passion or looking to become better at what they do.
This was a great non-fiction listen for me, as it had a solid mix of arguments with data/support I prefer in reads like this. My only issue is that it didn't strongly enough lay out how to become grittier even though it sets out to do that for the second half of the book. Still, I felt seeds were planted and I recommend.
Hard to stay interested initially, but well worth the effort
It took me a few weeks to get through the first third of the book, and just a few days to polish off the rest. A marginal case of applying what I read. I'm already planning on reading it again in a month or so - to go from understanding to absorbing the paths to more grit.
A fascinating exploration of Grit. There's even a Grit questionnaire to assess how gritty you are. I'm moderately gritty BTW - happily mediocre. I'm aware I could be grittier and resolve to do so, but then I've already moved on to the next book.
I like the idea though. It seems like a hearty admonishment of work and stick-to-it-ness that appeals to my Asian upbringing - Duckworth herself is raised by Chinese immigrants. It's resonated far more than the conversing with your creativity ala Elizabeth Gilbert's Big Magic or Brené Brown's focus on shame and our own imperfections. And like all the best pop-psych books there's lots of anecdotes from folks at the top of their game. Truly gritty paragons.
And it's reassuring for those of us lacking natural talents or long past the age to ever be considered a prodigy of anything. That through focused effort and perseverance we can excel. An extension of Malcolm Gladwell's 10,000 hours. Perseverance and passion - perhaps distilled down to this it's nothing new but nonetheless an engrossing read that got me thinking of where I could be grittier and how to raise grittier kids.
Duckworth's style in writing the summary of grit, her research focus, is deft and clear; I enjoyed it. As in many books of this style, she leans heavily on the stories of a number of people, some famous, others not so. Personally, I would rather read about the empirical research behind the concept of grit. I realize, however, this book is for mass market and not specifically for the scholar. All-in-all, an enjoyable read that prompts an interest.