A friend in AP Psychology recently recommended I read this book, as another one of his classmates recommended it to him, and he really enjoyed it. Personally, I could say the same about my experience with this book, as it really gave me a new perspective on how the human mind works.

Grit starts off by introducing the theory of grit itself, by describing studies by psychologists on West Point candidates. The book starts off by describing the first grueling 6 weeks of what is known as “Beast”, an additional layer of selection that West Point uses to weed out candidates. The author starts by mentioning research done during the 1950s by an earlier psychiatrist who also turned out to be one of Duckworth’s professors during her time at university.

Later in the book, Duckworth goes on to explain the phenomenon of grit by taking a look at people from all walks of life; Whether it be students, business owners, CEOs, or teachers, Duckworth notes that of the people in these fields, the one with grit tend to be the most successful. In looking at a program called Teach for America, Duckworth discovered that the teachers who were grittier were generally more optimistic, which correlated with better student performance and academic gains.

I don’t want to spoil more about the other cases that Duckworth discusses in the book because she can definitely explain it better than I can. I really enjoyed this book because it was life-changing, serving as a more scientific and thorough approach to looking at grit and perseverance as part of the human psyche. I would recommend this book to anybody who is interested in the field of psychology, or anybody who wants to learn more about how their mind works in general.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance by Angela Duckworth is available to check out from the Mission Viejo Library. It is also available to download for free from Libby.