Grit is about intentionally addressing human limitation. Duckworth begins by showing studies that show that people believe hard work pays off, and that it's more important than talent. But when she tested the opposite hypothesis by asking music professionals to select whether they prefer a recording of a "natural talent's" performance, or whether they prefer a recording of a "hard-working, long-practicing musician's" performance, they consistently tended to pick the natural. Then Angela Duckworth reveals that secretly, it was the same recording—the differences in perception were due to their bias.
She uses these two studies to show that although people understand that typically, "hard work" is the socially accepted answer, secretly on an emotional level, everyone still thinks they had to be 'born with a gift' or something to be good at things. This is Lesson 1, that people often profess things about success which are different than their private emotional beliefs.
In Lesson 2, she addresses the question directly, saying that across the board, scientific research suggests that, if a person wants to excel, then effort is exponentially more important than talent. She said that the equation can be thought of in two parts: 1. That "Skill" is essentially "Talent" x "Effort," and that 2. "Achievement" is essentially "Skill" x "Effort," so since humans are in control of how much effort they put toward something, they are completely able to succeed. She traces the ideas to show that mathematically, effort is exponentially more productive than talent.
In Lesson 3, Duckworth asks her reader to try a new approach to goal setting. Instead of facing huge goals every day, she suggests getting a large scale vision for what one wants their life to be like, but then to break that down into small, strategic steps that can be repeated on a daily basis. She says that, if a person can begin to take small, habitual steps in the right direction, on a daily basis, than they can eventually succeed at any dream.
