Reflections on Angela Duckworth's Writings About Grit

I've been learning about a key concept in the science of learning and motivation, made famous by thepopular psychologist, Angela Duckworth. 

It's been sobering to learn about. I've always been the type of person who could not settle on a single goal. There were always so many interesting things to pursue and explore! As was explained in my class, sometimes this is legitimate. Everyone needs to go through a journey of discovery, which may involve looking into many different subject areas and path without a coherent thread linking them altogether. Maybe you want to be a doctor. The next morning you decide to be a musician. The next, it's engineering. 

 

I actually did know someone who pursued both music and medicine successfully and simultaneously. I wondered whether this was something that she sat down and carefully planned out, drawing out a map of goals order in a hierarchical way. Does everyone who is successful create a structured, disciplined pursuit? Or do some people just naturally land upon certain large abstract dreams and then steps to getting there unfold naturally in their minds, without much deliberate consideration. 

 

For me, it's felt like a constant juggling act. Commitment is such a beautiful, attractive thing - something I have always deeply admired and struggled to achieve. There is so much faith that is required, a great vision and a lot of hope. You can't have perseverance without these things. 

 

But the beauty of life is that nothing is ever wasted. The experience of floating along with uncertainty created in me a hunger to understand how we learn effectively and pursue something with consistency in order to be effective. There's good news for people like me who were not blessed to inherit the science of effective learning and development.  The good news it that it is something that you can learn and it is never too late to incorporate it into your life. 

 

The first thing to understand about grit, as Angela Duckworth says, is that it takes both passion and perseverance. Perseverance without passion leads to soulless work driven by the wrong motivation. Not out of love, but fear. Passion without perseverance leads to fits and bursts of energy without consistent effort combined with continuity of interest. 

 

The next is deliberate practice. In order to get better at something, you have to identify a stretch goal - something that is just outside the level where you currently – and pour your effort into meeting that in a focused and attentive way. Then you have to take the time to look back and reflect and either give yourself feedback or receive it from someone else, in order to identify weak spots and what needs work. 

 

Are some people naturally better at engaging in deliberate practice than others? Are they born with a greater ability to enjoy challenging situations? Or is this something you can learn to appreciate and enjoy? Probably both are true to some degree, however I find it exciting to know that we can train ourselves to enjoy effortful pursuits and change our perspective on pain depending on a number of factors. 

 

The first is that we have to have a well-defined goal hierarchy. This involves constructing an abstract top-level goal that inspires and propels your forward. An example might be that you want to be the best teacher the world has ever seen. Then there are the mid-level goals – working at a school for five years, getting a PhD in education and psychology, getting a scholarship, creating a Youtube channel. They can also be smaller – finishing a course in a degree, volunteering at a school for a year, reading an inspiring book, creating blog posts. Then there are the lower level goals – studying hard for an upcoming exam, taking the child you are looking after to the doctor, brainstorming internship possibilities. Without these higher level goals, you will not be motivated to achieve the smaller more mundane ones. 

 

The second thing is experiencing reward. Getting good grades and congratulations from your teacher. Experiencing the satisfying feeling of making it through a course without getting stressed. Winning a scholarship. Getting a raise or a promotion. Enjoying the freedom that comes with more primary rewards. Even just watching yourself consistently improve at something. These all help you learn to appreciate effort.  

 

But's there's also a level of subjectivity involved. We can reframe things to make them more enjoyable, selectively attending to the aspects of them that are enjoyable. These might be proximal, in other words future-related things such as envisioning the larger goal this effort is helping you move towards. It might be reminding yourself that the mental exercise is helping you build resilience. Or maybe it's reconstructing the task in a way to make it more fun and exciting – breaking retrieval practices down into bite-sized chunks and giving yourself a star after each one, then rewarding yourself with a song after you've achieved ten. 

 

You can't get good at everything. We only have a finite amount of energy and self-control. Truly effortful engagement that creates progress is tiring and they say on average, most wouldn’t be able to engage in this kind of work for a few hours each day. This is what researchers Francis and Inzlicht call 'ego depletion'. Our self-control runs out because it is evolutionarily disadvantageous to spend excessive amounts of time on future oriented pursuits. We need to look after our physical bodies and social relationships in order to survive. 

 

Sometimes gritty pursuits can have negative consequences if other important goals and life areas are forgotten for too long. Furthermore, it can be wise to pause and reconsider whether gritty pursuits are what you really want in the long run. What might seem flaky can also be reconstrued as effective self-regulation and appraisal.  

 

So – if we want to be effective and learn the science of grit, we have to be aware of the pitfalls. We can't just dream big and in the abstract without clarifying, defining and committing to action steps. We also can't have too many big dreams that conflict and mean we are spread too thin. There are times for exploration and trying out a variety of options and this timeframe looks different for everyone, depending on their circumstances. This in itself can be articulated as an active pursuit. An intentional exploration that includes the same formula – articulating a mini vision, outlining a stretch goal, setting a time limit, deliberate effort and time for evaluation. The process for exploration can be implemented on a micro scale in a spirit of hope, openness, trust, patience and determination. 

 

This phase is vital because be comfortable in the face of adversity, we have to have hope and confidence in our vision and a level of certainty. It's unwise to jump in too deep too soon because we have to develop a consistency of interest and a depth of vision that will sustain us when we hit the obstacles. This is why Duckworth also explains that we have to be flexible in our grittiness. Don't confuse grit with rigidity! Inevitably, some of the lower-level goals will be blocked or won't work out. In those instances, it takes a growth mindset to step back and dream up or seek out alternative routes.  

Learning about this has given me hope and awareness. I still feel like I am pursuing conflicting mid to top level goals. However, at least I am aware. That's always the first step. I've been thinking so much about how much I wish this information had been clearly articulated and taught to me as a child. I wish there were a way for it to be more integrated into the school curriculum. There are definitely some amazing teachers I've worked with who know it innately and having read about Duckworth's own pursuits engaging schools in her content, it seems like the general direction in which we are heading, which is exciting to see.