“as much as talent counts, effort counts twice.”
Duckworth explores the idea behind possessing talent versus effort in achieving success in any particular endeavor. She highlights that many harbor the notion that talent is the key to achieving success. However, she refutes the idea by attaching effort to the formula of acquiring skills and in turn executing through hard work. She affirms that talent is a crucial variable to acquiring skill but statistically, the consistent effort has shown to be more productive. Thus, the statement technically puts the formula in that talent is not the constant variable but effort.
“Enthusiasm is common. Endurance is rare.”
Akin to the title, Duckworth stresses the significance of grit or rather perseverance in pursuing set goals. However, she affirms that the persistence should not be futile toiling in the name of hard work but strategic and following through on obligations. She asserts the discipline required to maintain one’s motivation is not a quality exhibited by many. In that passion is easy to possess but maintaining one’s motivation and the endurance in the quest is something that has to be learned. Duckworth highlights that emotional beliefs play a critical role in motivation and discipline therefore endurance appears to be possessed by few.
“I learned a lesson I’d never forget. The lesson was that, when you have setbacks and failures, you can’t overreact to them.”
Duckworth focuses on conveying a notion of setting an open-ended vision through strategic goal-setting. Since setting a specific goal with a large end vision can cause a lack of enthusiasm when certain setbacks occur along the road. However, she expresses that perseverance and passion are crucial towards success, poor goal-setting can contribute to letdowns. Therefore setting small goals that can be achieved through stages over some time by observing daily discipline is much more productive. Accordingly, when setbacks occur it does not affect the bigger picture as the goals have been broken down into smaller objectives.
