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I don’t think that every child in America is going to necessarily aspire to, you know, a four-year degree from a liberal arts college or a certain kind of life. I think that people should learn to be excellent in the thing that they choose to do.

Angela Duckworth

You cannot will yourself to be interested in something you’re not interested in. But you can actively discover and deepen your interest.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Actively Deepen Discover Interest Interested Something Yourself
Some people prefer a world where we’re all equally talented in everything. Whether you prefer that world or not, I don’t think that world exists.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Everything People Prefer Some Talent Wally World
I think the very idea of character, of developing not just grit, but empathy and curiosity, emotional intelligence.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

But Character Develop Emotion Empathy Idea Intelligence Think
Really, what matters in the long run is sticking with things and working daily to get better at them.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Better Daily Long Matter Really Run Stick Work
I think the questions on the grit scale about not letting setbacks disappoint you, finishing what you begin, doing things with focus, I think that those are things I would aspire to or hope for for all our children.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Disappoint Finish Focus Girl Let Question Scare Setback Think
Every day, parents and teachers ask me, ‘How do I build grit in kids? What do I do to teach kids a solid work ethic? How do I keep them motivated for the long run?’ The honest answer is, I don’t know.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Answer Build Day Every Grit Honest Kid Parent Solid Teacher Work
I do feel it’s hard to be modest and humble and egoless when people are telling you you are so great and wanting to give you prizes and energy. I’m trying hard not to be an awful, narcissistic human being.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Egoless Energy Feel Give Great Humble Modest People Prize Tell Want
Being gritty doesn’t mean not showing pain or pretending everything is O.K. In fact, when you look at healthy and successful and giving people, they are extraordinarily meta-cognitive. They’re able to say things like, ‘Dude, I totally lost my temper this morning.’ That ability to reflect on yourself is signature to grit.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Being Everything Fact Give Gritty Healthy Look Mean OK People Pretend Show Successful
What we reliably find is that people’s perseverance scores are actually higher than their passion scores, and I think it really does get to the fact that working hard is hard, but maybe finding your passion is even more difficult.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Consult Demand Job Management More People Perseverance Reliability Teach
Most people who are really, enduringly interested in something eventually find that it’s important, too – and important to other people.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Important Interest Most Nduringly Other People Really Something
People who are really gritty – they’re still interested.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Gretty Interest People Realy Still
I’m not a policy oriented person. I’m constrained to what I study. But educational policy has not yet taken adequate note of the whole child. Kids are not just their IQ or standardized test scores. It matters whether or not they show up, how hard they work.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Adequate Child Constrained Education Orientated Ote Person Policy Study Taken Whole
The parenting style that is good for grit is also the parenting style good for most other things: Be really, really demanding, and be very, very supportive.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Also Good Grit Most Parent Style Thing
I don’t spend a lot of time thinking about my genes because I can’t do anything about them.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Anything Genes Lot Spent Them Think
When I was 27 years old, I left a very demanding job in management consulting for a job that was even more demanding: teaching. I went to teach seventh graders math in the New York City public schools.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Consult Demand Demanding Even Job Management More Old Seven Teaching Twenty Year
Grit, in a word, is stamina. But it’s not just stamina in your effort.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Effort Grit Just Stamina World
So when my daughter told me on the second track meet that she was done with it because she discovered she didn’t like competing, I made her finish the season.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Competing Daughter Discover Made Season Second Track Was
There’s this really awesome theory of human motivation – that human beings all want three things. One is to be competent, one is to belong, and one is be free, as in to have choice: to not be told what to do but to choose what to do.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Awesome Being Competent Free Human Motivation Really Theory Thing Three Want
As our knees and hips and eyesight deteriorate, we become more dependable, less impulsive, kinder, and less moody.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Become Deteriorate Eyesight Hip Impulse Kinder Knee Less Moody More Our
I was a good novice teacher, but I did the things that were obvious.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Good Novice Obvious Teacher Thing
Everybody knows that effort matters. What was revelatory to me was how much it mattered.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Effort Everybody Matter Mattered Much Revelator
If you’re never able to tolerate a little bit of pain and discomfort, you’ll never get better.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Able Better Bit Discomfort never Pain Tolarte
It’s a very good thing to teach kids to finish what they started in the sense of fulfilling their commitments.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Commitment Finish Fulfill Good Kid Sense Start Teach Thing Very
To me, the most shocking thing about grit is how little we know, how little science knows, about building it.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Building Girl Know Little Most Science Shock Thing
I do think that whatever ambition I may have had natively was amplified by my father’s clear valuing of it. I knew that was what my dad really cared about.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Ambition Amplified Clear Father Natively Think Value Whatever
Gritty people train at the edge of their comfort zone. They zero in on one narrow aspect of their performance and set a stretch goal to improve it.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Comfort Gritty People Train End Zone
If you are a young person who is wanting to develop a passion, you cannot expect anyone else to tell you what that passion would be.
ANGELA DUCKWORTH

Develop Passion Person Want Young

I don’t think that every child in America is going to necessarily aspire to, you know, a four-year degree from a liberal arts college or a certain kind of life. I think that people should learn to be excellent in the thing that they choose to do.

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I don’t think that every child in America is going to necessarily aspire to, you know, a four-year degree from a liberal arts college or a certain kind of life. I think that people should learn to be excellent in the thing that they choose to do.

Related Topics

Popular Authors

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