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Angela Duckworth: Grit Isn't Enough (#317)
01 September 2026

Angela Duckworth: Grit Isn't Enough (#317)

3 Takeaways™

About

What if trying harder is sometimes exactly the wrong thing to do?

Angela Duckworth, University of Pennsylvania psychologist, MacArthur Fellow, and author of the #1 New York Times bestseller Grit, has spent years studying achievement. In her new book, Situated, she explores why perseverance alone isn't enough.

She discusses:

    How Angela and her husband nearly “gritted” their way out of their marriageHow much your environment shapes who you becomeThe small change that can make good habits easierWhy parents may be asking the wrong question about their childrenHow peer pressure can become a force for goodWhether AI could make us worse at thinkingWhen changing your situation matters more than changing yourself

We spend enormous energy trying to improve ourselves. Angela Duckworth asks a different question: what if the more important thing is to change what’s around us?