The book has brought up some questions: How do people become successful? What makes one grittier than another? Angela Duckworth, a Professor in Psychology, conveys to the readers how someone can take control of their life, and be successful.
There are some examples that show the superiority of grit among other characteristics. The challenge from West Point 「Beast Barracks」, an intense 7-week program, decided who would make it through all the physical and mental challenges. Duckworth tells us it was grit - the combination of passion and perseverance - that allowed for students to endure through this tough program.
By keeping up with these students in the following years, they are not only succeeding in general, but also have a clear direction of their life path, and work towards their life goals.
Another example shows how people learned to be helplessness, which It occurs when we continuously face a negative situation and stops trying to change, even when we have the ability to do so.
The psychology experiment was conducting by Seligman, who was researching on animal behavior that involved giving electric shocks to dogs. There were two groups of dogs that one can stop the shock by pressing a button whereas another group has no choice but receiving the shock. When they were put together, dogs from the second group learned that they could not avoid the shock anyway, although there is a way.
The concept explains that we sometimes think that we cannot perform well and therefore stop trying to improve. However, the trauma is only what we perceived. If we believe that the trauma can be controlled, then keep finding solutions, the difficult task will be under our control.
One essential characteristic in grit is the willingness to encounter failure. This is what I am lack of, as I used to give up when I felt tried or bored in my interest, then I would turned to another. Although it is not bad to always try something new, giving up on a difficult task that I have been doing for a while cannot be called 「grit」.
I tell myself that there is a short period when I feel lost, when I think failure is bad and feel ashamed, but only through deliberate practice I learn to do things that I am currently unable to do. On top of that, passion leads to a fresh start, grit leads to an ultimate success.
以上是我們家庭共同完成的雙語讀書筆記。同讀一本書，長見識，增感情，促成長。將閱讀進行到底，堅持不懈做筆記，何嘗不是一種堅毅？把《堅毅》作為孩子GAP YEAR同讀的第一本書，是因為在當前困難情景下培養堅毅品格對孩子健康成長還是家庭成長都有著特殊意義。