Renata’s blog

Posted on 5^th September 2021

A book that could change your life:

Grit: the Power of Passion and Perseverance by Dr Angela Duckworth

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Introduction      

In this blog I want to explain to you why I think this book – Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance – by Angela Duckworth is a great book, and show you how her research can help us in our daily lives, as we try to achieve our goals.

Dr Angela Duckworth is an Associate Professor of psychology, at the University of Pennsylvania. When she was in her second year of graduate school, she started researching the achievements of highly effective people in different areas of life: business, the arts, journalism, medicine, athletics, the law, etc.

She wanted to know if there were any common features that successful people, at the top of these various fields, shared. And so she interviewed the leaders in these different occupations and discovered something which she found of great interest. There was a distinctive way of behaving that they all shared. When they faced failure, in one form or another, they just kept going!

She found that highly successful people were remarkably persevering. They were really hard-working and could bounce back after set-backs. And they knew where they were headed. They were passionate about what they were doing and this drove them on.

In her book she states:

“No matter what the domain, the highly successful had a kind of ferocious determination that played out in 2 ways. Firstly, these exemplars were unusually hard-working and resilient. Secondly, they knew in a very deep way what it was they wanted. They not only had determination – they had direction.”

Gradually, as the interviews with these highly successful people progressed, she was able to create a series of questions. These questions tried to gauge the extent of someone’s ability to keep going in the face of obstacles, and how passionate they were about their chosen activities.

With these questions, she created a questionnaire called the ‘Grit scale’, and she decided grit – meaning passion and perseverance – was the outstanding feature of the successful people she interviewed. In the scale, she has several questions about perseverance and also questions about passion.

She describes passion as: “…a compass – the thing that takes you some time to build and tinker with and finally get right, and that then guides you on your long and winding road to where, ultimately, you want to be”.

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I could write pages and pages about this book; but the important point is this:  I can teach you to develop your grit rating; and to build your resilience, so that you have a better chance of achieving your goals in every areas of your life.

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Take a look at some of my books here: ABC Bookstore Online UK.***

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Or email me today, to talk about getting help to increase your grit rating and your perseverance and resilience in the face of life’s stressors, frustrations and difficulties.

Best wishes,

Renata

Renata Taylor-Byrne

Coaching for Personal and Professional Success

ABC Coaching in Hebden Bridge and over the telephone system

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Telephone 01422 843 629

Or email me on Renata @ ABC Coaching

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