Angela Duckworth, a leading research expert on grit, started her quest to find the one main leading cause of success as she began teaching math to seventh graders. Throughout her teaching years, Duckworth found that IQ did not determine success among students, an observation that led her to go back to school to study psychology. After years of research on what predicts success in various contexts, whether work, school, military training, or personal relationships, she concluded that the predictive factor was not IQ, social intelligence, good looks, or physical health. It was grit, a combination of passion and perseverance to stay with a long-term goal for years, even when no immediate reward is in sight. Interestingly research data revealed that building grit was inversely related to talent. Duckworth advises parents and teachers to cultivate a “growth mindset” in children to build their girt and continue being gritty themselves by acknowledging that there is still much more to learn and experiment about the subject.

Watch Duckworth’s TedTalk here.

Image Credits:
Feature Image: KinKate, On Pixabay, Creative Commons,