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Allen rated a book it was amazing

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

by Angela Duckworth (Goodreads Author)

bookshelves: currently-reading, favorites, focus, grit, perseverance, passion, resilience, attention, growth-mindset

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Allen said: " Chapter 1: Showing up
Angela asked the question, "who are the people at the very top of their field? What are they like? What do you think makes them special?"

Some of the personalities were very field-specific. For instance, more than one businesspers Chapter 1: Showing up
Angela asked the question, "who are the people at the very top of their field? What are they like? What do you think makes them special?"

Some of the personalities were very field-specific. For instance, more than one businessperson mentioned an appetite for taking financial risks. "You've got to be able to make calculated decisions about millions of dollars and still go to sleep at night." This is in comparison to artists, who instead mentioned a drive to create "I like making stuff. I don't know why, but I do." While athletes mentioned a different kind of motivation, one driven by the thrill of victory: "Winners love to go head-to-head with other people. Winners hate losing."

There emerged certain commonalities, and they were no matter which field, the most successful people were lucky and talented. There was also talks about people who were promising but dropped out or lost interest before they could realise their potential. It is critical to understand that its not at all easy to keep going after failure. Some people are great when things are going well, but they fall apart when things aren't. The highly accomplished were paragons of perseverance. They were driven to improve and iterate on their mistakes and kept on trying.

Why were the highly accomplished so dogged in their pursuits? For most, there was no realistic expectation of ever catching up to their ambitions. In their own eyes, they were never good enough. They were the opposite of complacent. And yet, in a very real sense, they were satisfied being unsatisfied. Each was chasing something of unparalleled interest and importance, and it was the chase - as much as the capture- that was gratifying. Even if some of the things they had to do were boring, or frustrating, or even painful, they wouldn't dream of giving up. Their passion was enduring.

In sum, no matter the domain, the highly successful had a kind of ferocious determination that played out in two ways. First, these exemplars were usually resilient and hardworking. Second, they knew in a very, very deep way what it was they wanted. They not only had determination, they had direction. It was this combination of passion and perseverance that made high achievers special. In a word, they had grit.

Grit Scale is a test that when taken honestly, measures the extent to which you approach life with grit.
How talented someone is has nothing to do with their grit, and vice versa.
Grit was more important than other personality traits such as conscientiousness, emotional stability and extroversion.

Angela's fundamental insight is: Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is another.

Chapter 2: Distracted. Davids story is striking as he mentioned he didn’t dwell on the poor grades. He didn’t take it personally. Instead he extracted information from it. Used it as a data point and iterated. This is the growth mindset Carol Dweck also comments on. He asked questions and improved himself to be the best student.
Angela also mentions that Charles Darwins opinion on achievement - that is his belief that zeal and hard work are ultimately more important than intellectual ability.

William James who is a Harvard psychologist also wrote "Compared with what we out to be, we are only half awake. Our fires damped, our drafts are checked. We are making use of only a small part of our possible mental and physical resource." There is a gap. James declared, between potential and its actualisation. Without denying that our talents vary - one might be more musical than athletic or more entrepreneurial than artistic - James asserted that "the human individual lives usually far within his limits; he possess powers of various sorts which he habitually fails to use. He energises below his maximum, and he behaves below his optimum." "Of course there are limits." James acknowledged. "The trees don't grow into the sky." But these outer boundaries of where we will, eventually, stop improving are simply irrelevant for the vast majority of us. "The plain fact remains that men the world over possess amounts of resource, which only very exceptional individuals push to their extremes of use."

The naturalness bias is a hidden prejudice against those who've achieved what they have because they worked for it, and a hidden preference for those whom we think arrived at their place in life because they're naturally talented. We may not admit to others this bias for naturals; we may not even admit it to ourselves. But the bias is evident in the choice we make. ...more "

Apr 10, 2026 10:34PM · see review

Allen’s Quotes

“The starting point of all achievement is DESIRE. Keep this constantly in mind. Weak desire brings weak results, just as a small fire makes a small amount of heat.”
― Napoleon Hill, Think and Grow Rich

tags: inspirational

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