2022 GoodRead Challenge â Book 18 of 50
Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance written by Angela Duckworth. I was listening to a sermon the other day when the pastor began to talk about this book Grit. If I remember correctly back in 2020 or early 2021 I was making up a reading challenge list for myself. I was looking at other peoples book list online and I think I remember seeing this book on a list. I went to a Goodwill Outlet and found a hard copy of the book. I picked it up to add to my reading list. I am about 90% sure that I ended up getting rid of the book when I was moving again because I didn’t think I would ever get to it and to be honest I didn’t really know what the book was about. I just picked it up because I saw the title on a list and so happened to find a copy for cheap. Now fast forward to 2022 and since the title came up again I decided to check it out.
I picked up the audiobook on Libby and finished in a few days. I found the topic interesting and glad I finally “read” it. I have always struggled with the general idea of intelligence. I thought the only way to measure a person intelligence was how well they did at school. I remember a fellow classmate who I went to school with since Elementary age, his name was Matt (he passed away a few years ago). He was this red headed boy who I believed was a genius, he was in a lot of advanced classes and he was always winning some reward. I remember we were in class together our last year of high school and he was talking to his friends. He went off about how he doesn’t understand why everyone thinks he is so smart. I remember thinking to myself all the reasons why I thought that all those years I have been in class with him. Now that I’m older I think it’s interesting that he felt that way and I honestly think he meant it when he said he didn’t understand. When I was in college I learned about multiple intelligence theory and I was immetelly intrigue. I have always thought I was stupid due to the fact I did not do well in school. I won’t go into a lot of details but the reality is I wasn’t stupid just lazy. I did not care enough to do what I needed to do to get high grades. I did what I had to to get a passing (sometime barely passing) grades.
The books talks about people who have grits and people who do not. Just because someone is smart does not mean they have grits. This made me think of a handful of people who I know who have high IQ’s and they were doing things below their potential. If I go with this theory then it makes since – they don’t have the grits to do other things. Ok I keep saying the word grit but not really explaining it. The general idea is a person who does not give up no matter what happens along the way. A person is more likely to be successful not because of how smart they are but how much they keep pressing forward. She shares multiple stories of people who did not give up on a dream just because they were faced with a set back or a challenge. She developed a way to measure a person grits and when she was first developing this concept she gave the test to students at West Point. They found they knew who would and would not make it to the end of the training due to this test or survey she handed out. I know on some level I don’t have a lot of grits but I want to start. I am tired of living the way I am and I know that if I want to see change I have to start pushing myself.
She talks about a concept about fixed mindset vs. growth mindset. This was developed by another person and I found the book she quoted from at a yard sale this past weekend. I plan on reading it because I found this topic interesting. I want to set a good example for my kids and since this is the way I am working on myself during this crazy time in my life. I know I have to stop giving up on something before I even start. I have to work on being a more grit-ful (made up word) person. I believe with the little glimpse to the concept fixed mindset vs. growth mindset; that I am a person with a fixed mindset and I don’t like that. I want to change that which is why I want to read more about it. I want my kids to always want to try new things and no matter what happens they continue to try. There are people who seem to have a natural ability but that is the exception not the rule.
Thriving in Chaos 
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