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Grit: the power of passion and perseverance | Angela Lee Duckworth

 

    "Grit is living life like it's a marathon, not a sprint." The speaker here in this Ted Talk is an educator and a physiologist, she starts her talk by providing the audience by providing some background information about her profession. When she started working as a math teacher, in New York public schools, she had a smart observation about the performance of kids. She noticed that IQ is not an indicator of success. Smart kids are not necessarily the most successful. She felt that the answer could be motivation. Therefore, she decided to start her master's in phycology. She wanted to look for an answer to this question; what makes a successful individual in life?  

    She shares, “After many years, I came to the conclusion that what we need in education is a much better understanding of students and learning from a motivational perspective, from a psychological perspective.” She began to ask, “What if your ability to do well in school and in life depends on much more than your ability to learn quickly and easily?” She found out that the sole indicator of success is grit."Grit is the passion and perseverance for very long-term goals. But how can we define grit? What is the science behind it? It is a solid work ethic, commitment, and consistency that helps an individual becomes successful in life. She reached this conclusion after studying successful individuals in a different context. It is having a growth mindset. In other words, effort plays an important role in achieving success. In Chicago Public Schools, where she conducted her research, she discovered that "grittier children were more likely to graduate even when matched with variables like family income, standardized achievement scores, or whether they felt safe at school." Children who are at risk of dropping out need to have grit more than anyone. According to Angela Lee Duckworth, "grit," or "passion and perseverance for very long-term goals is a key predictor of success. This trait is demonstrated to be more crucial for success than talent or intelligence (IQ) among school-aged students, military cadets, salespeople, teachers working in difficult neighborhoods, and other circumstances. Angela Lee Duckworth realized that "IQ was not the only difference between the best and the worst students" after quitting a high-powered job to work as a public school teacher in New York City Public Schools.

    In Angela Lee Duckworth’s words, “We need to take our best ideas, strongest intuitions, test and measure them. We must be prepared to make mistakes, fail, and then try again after learning from them.







Comments

  1. Your explanation of how IQ isn't the main indicator to the success of people is a great point. Considering the fact that people learn in different ways and have different ways of thinking. Grit is the main factor that shows how capable and mentally strong a person can be.

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