Book Summary - Grit by Angela Duckworth
The post is a book summary of the main bullet points from the book “Grit” by “Angela Duckworth”
Components of Grit
Angela breaks down grit in the following components:-
Interest: I love what I do
Practice: I will do what it takes to improve and become world-class
Purpose: What I do is important for everyone
Hope: I will keep going even when it’s difficult
Interest & Practice : Finding your passion
I’ve merged both Interest and Practice as they flow nicely, and have many couples aspects to them.
What does it practically mean?
Some period of discovery, a period of development and a long period of deepening.
Tips
Once you find it , don’t rush - rush can bludgeon a bouldering interest
If you still haven’t found your passion, consider indulging into one a little bit longer and going deeper to what you already have a good hang of . Sometimes the depth clicks
Purpose : Finding it
There’s this para which clarifies what she means by purpose in the context of grit, and it summarises the concept quite well. The key here is the difference between:-
A job - something you do to pay bills
A career - stepping stone to other jobs
A calling - work is the most important thing in my life. i’m born to do this. my work is important to the world
Purpose alone doesn’t work as effectively. Purposeful Passion is what makes a difference
Hope : I will keep doing it, no matter how many failures I get
Things can change if you push. Don’t give up. Keep trying until you succeed, be agile but keep trying towards your goal no matter what, no matter how hard it gets
Don’t let inertia of previous problems, failures stop you from trying again and again
Theory
There was an interesting part where she explains the concept of achievement as an equation and how it relates to grit.
Talent X Effort = Skill
Skill X Effort = Achievement
Talent is the speed at which you gain skill by effort
But it also takes effort to use that skill to get results
Grit is not just perseverance. It is also Passion and Loyalty to the same goal / task for a long period of time until you reach it
Grit is about holding the same top level goal for a very long time