learning to grit

Learning to Be Gritty It's not clear what makes some people grittier than others, but Angela Duckworth believes grit is something people can probably learn. She says every human quality that has been studied has proven to be affected at least in part by a person's environment -- even intelligence. In addition, people change over time. "Think about things about your personality like, 'I'm a pretty extroverted person,'" says Duckworth. "Well, how fixed is that?" It turns out a personality trait like extroversion can change a lot over a person's life. "If you look at large population data, people get more or less extroverted over time," says Duckworth. "There's no reason to think that grit is any different." She believes grit can wax and wane in response to experiences. In addition, people might be gritty about some things and not others. I often set a goal but later choose to pursue a different one. - Grit Test "You can see a child be exceptionally self-disciplined about their basketball practicing, and yet when you see them in math class, they give up at the slightest frustration," says Duckworth. Donald Kamentz, director of college initiatives at YES Prep, says students he's worked with are some of the grittiest people he's ever met. They "deal with things and persevere through situations that most people would find insurmountable," he says.