Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance
Angela Duckworth
ISBN: 9781501111105
Half cheerleading coach and half business mentor; Duckworth explains what "grit" really is.
Interesting, but a little depressing. "Gritty" people are those who thrive on challenge, who have found what they love doing and found ways to continue to excel at doing it. Grit is also based on both heritage and nurture: you've got to teach kids to be gritty - to teach them that they're succeeding because they're TRYING, not because they're smart/natural/gifted/genius. Unfortunately, that means that those of us who were taught other things (or even worse, taught by tragedy that nothing we do matters in the face of an uncaring universe) are pretty much SoL - unless you can find a way to persuade your insurance company to cover cognitive-behavior therapy techniques to teach you to change your ingrained thought patterns.
The book is supposed to be encouraging and positive and inspirational, with lots of places to take little checklists and to compare yourself with gritty individuals and their accomplishments - but for someone who DOES suffer from depression and anxiety, her only advice is therapy (which she does kindly admit is profoundly disappointing and not particularly helpful, so at least she realizes it.) I enjoyed reading it anyway, and perhaps someday when this country (or our health system) prioritizes mental health, those of us who faced setbacks on our childhood road to grit can forge a way to become stronger and more happy too.
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