Grit by Angela Duckworth


 
This book is about achievement – how excellent people accomplished something. According to the author, to achieve something great, both talent and effort are necessary and effort is a more determining factor than talent. In the viewpoint of nature vs. nurture controversy, the author focused more on nurture, or improvable and alterable elements, which made this book a well-written motivational book. As the author is a confident psychologist who studied grit for a long time, this book contains valuable related information and personal interviews of grit paragons. Above all, the author’s career is a very good example of grit, or passion and perseverance. I was impressed by the author’s inquiring mind and subsequent attempt to get an answer, step by step, in one research topic of ‘achievement’. It made me reflect on my past research life. Did I do my research driven by curiosity? Did I initiate that statistical analysis as I wanted to get an answer on the topic? To be frank, sometimes I did something as I was expected to do or as I thought that I was expected to do, regardless of my desire or interest – my conformity to the given or obsession can also be explained by the interaction of nature and nurture. (Anyway, all human behaviors can be explained by the two)
This book is very cheerful and positive, reflecting the author’s characteristics and attitude. It has the potential to motivate the readers to be grittier, as the person who releases a positive mind and energy makes people brighter and hopeful.
 
written by Shim G.
 

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