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birdinflight1's review
4.0
I enjoyed reading this book, although it took me over half a year to finish it. Each time I picked it up again, I enjoyed her conversational style describing the research she and others have done on "grit."
One big take away for me is that effort counts more than natural talent, and effort counts twice. Effort applied to talent leads to skill development, and then when you apply effort to a skill, you reach achievement of the goal. So plain old talent won't get you very far unless you apply a lot of effort into developing and honing your talent.
I enjoyed seeing her grittiness scale, and thinking about my own life as it applies to grit. She talks about the importance of passion/purpose and perseverance as two important factors in grit. If you can identify a purpose/passion/mission and then apply your perseverance to that end, that is ideal. Some people have a lot of tenacity and perseverance, but they keep changing directions/focus/goals so they don't get very far.
I also liked the practical ideas at the end of the book on increasing grit. Especially the "hard thing" rule she has in her family. Everyone has to undertake one hard thing---it can be yoga or running or violin or ballet. You don't have to stay with it forever, but you should always be working on increasing your skills in one area in which you are not yet good at.
High schoolers should do two "hard things, for at least two years, and ideally, they should reach some level of achievement. For example, at least two years on the swim team, earning a distinction of some sort along with at least two years on the school newspaper, earning an award of some sort. Teens who reach this level of grit do best in college.
I enjoy reading about psychological research on it's own, but I loved this book because of the personal examples and the practical tips that bring the research down to earth.
One big take away for me is that effort counts more than natural talent, and effort counts twice. Effort applied to talent leads to skill development, and then when you apply effort to a skill, you reach achievement of the goal. So plain old talent won't get you very far unless you apply a lot of effort into developing and honing your talent.
I enjoyed seeing her grittiness scale, and thinking about my own life as it applies to grit. She talks about the importance of passion/purpose and perseverance as two important factors in grit. If you can identify a purpose/passion/mission and then apply your perseverance to that end, that is ideal. Some people have a lot of tenacity and perseverance, but they keep changing directions/focus/goals so they don't get very far.
I also liked the practical ideas at the end of the book on increasing grit. Especially the "hard thing" rule she has in her family. Everyone has to undertake one hard thing---it can be yoga or running or violin or ballet. You don't have to stay with it forever, but you should always be working on increasing your skills in one area in which you are not yet good at.
High schoolers should do two "hard things, for at least two years, and ideally, they should reach some level of achievement. For example, at least two years on the swim team, earning a distinction of some sort along with at least two years on the school newspaper, earning an award of some sort. Teens who reach this level of grit do best in college.
I enjoy reading about psychological research on it's own, but I loved this book because of the personal examples and the practical tips that bring the research down to earth.
midnightnoon's review
4.0
this book’s contents include but are not limited to:
- research (it always comes back to the bobo doll experiment lol)
- anecdotes
- interviews (interesting because includes a variety of experts)
- parenting advice i wish my parents knew
- duckworth’s resume
- research (it always comes back to the bobo doll experiment lol)
- anecdotes
- interviews (interesting because includes a variety of experts)
- parenting advice i wish my parents knew
- duckworth’s resume
paigekinsey00's review
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
4.75
This book was amazing. Anyone interested in learning how to achieve more and become more gritty/resilient should 100% read this book. SO good. SO helpful. SO encouraging.
magsmcwelch's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.0
I liked the summaries she gave of various studies, but I expected more business applications. This ends up reading more like a self help book with more stories/anecdotes than are necessary to get the point across. Summary takeaways would do the trick for this one (takeaways are generally interesting and worthwhile - first few chapters are 4 stars rather than 3).
kitkat962's review
1.0
I told myself not to indulge in any more self-help and wallow in my misery after finishing Mark Manson's installment, but here I was, giving Grit a chance because I enjoyed her on podcast. Oh, how wrong I was. It is straight-up self-help, minus good writing and inspirations. Oh, how I the struggle to keep the pages turning, because, frankly, this almost-300-page book could be summed up in 2 buzzwords: perseverance and passion. I couldn't tell if I'm reading the first or the third chapters, because it's all the same: sprinkle of statistics, researches, and personal anecdote meshed together.
If you are still curious about grit, I recommend reading her original research papers. At least you can learn (and be critical of) some more useful statistics and design of experiments.
If you are still curious about grit, I recommend reading her original research papers. At least you can learn (and be critical of) some more useful statistics and design of experiments.