Everyone wants to grow. Everyone wants to be successful. But not all people can get what they want to have. The fact that only people who have an inborn talent will be able to have success is right ? That is not right. So who can reach their goal? This book presents the way we can belong to this group which achieves its goal. It is a grit. Grit means perseverance with passion. So, can we build up that?
This book is separated into two part ; one is a way to grow grit from the inside out, the other is a way to grow grit from the outside in.
inside out : It needs four factors to grow grit from the inside.
First, interest (passion). Interest refers to kind of mind-set, ‘I want it’. Because it is wanted and needed, people try to put more time and more effort into it. So the interest is the start pointing. But nobody can find it so easily. To find their own interest, they have to ponder over what they want and go through trial and error. The best way to figure out the interest is play, not work. While they are goofing around, something that is fit for them can be found.
Second, practice. After people know what their interest is, practice is needed. Just not practice but deliberate practice. This book gives us some example to explain why we need to have deliberate practice. There a person who jogs about an hour or so every day. We can say that he have passion and practice. But it is difficult to say that he is enough to enter the track and field. Why? Because he go for a run to keep himself in shape. Thus, there are no exact goal, coach and feedback. Deliberate practice means the efforts to make conscious incompetence become unconscious competence. It needs goal. It needs to seek out challenges they can’t yet meet. It needs feedback about their weakness. Of course, there is less enjoyable and more effortful but if they go pass this process, they can’t go next step and will not lead to the habituation.
Third, hope. it is important to have growth mind-set, not fixed mind-set. Fixed mind-set praises the gift as there’s no way to get out of where they are. Whereas growth mind-set is to believe in the growth. The courage to jump into challenges and the flexibility to change by trial and errors will get over gift.
2. outside in : when we do something alone, it is not funny and not easy. But if there is someone who gives us support and encouragement, it will be a big help. It is true of grit. The people who provide us with support, encouragement and demanding and be willing to help bring us to the point where we aim to reach may be parents, coaches or teachers. With them, it will be easier on the path to the destination.