By: Julie O'Hara on November 14, 2024
Grit. The word conjures images of dusty cowboys enduring hardship out on the plains of the American west while protecting their cattle and preserving their way of life. Maybe the image comes easily because the long-awaited final episodes of the fan-favorite television series, Yellowstone, have begun to drop. In this series about life on a…
By: Elysse Burns on November 14, 2024
I live among people whose resilience and resourcefulness are extraordinary, and I am amazed and humbled by what they produce and repurpose daily with limited resources. Whether navigating crowded market stalls, constructing buildings with only buckets and concrete blocks, or commuting in taxis, rickshaws, on donkeys, or by foot, one thing is unmistakable: life here…
By: Diane Tuttle on November 14, 2024
Between the two books, Grit: The POWER of PASSION and PERSEVERANCE[1] and Mindset[2], it feels like I was reading several lines from my “script” to new employees at our orientation meetings each month, except with different words. My role in these meetings is to welcome the newcomers, review our Mission, Core Values and Vision statements…
By: Kari on November 14, 2024
“You’re a lady doing the worker’s job!” I looked up from my sweeping to smile at the neighbor passing. I shrugged and cheerfully told her it was good exercise. She laughed, agreed, exchanged a few more words, and continued walking. That exchange was in the local dialect of Arabic. I understood her. She understood me.…
By: Ryan Thorson on November 14, 2024
*Grit: (Noun) courage and resolve; strength of character:* What does it take to develop grit? Is grit really perseverance and passion, or simply perseverance with a growth mindset? Does Grit even matter? Angela Duckworth wrote the book Grit in 2016 after measuring success in various groups of students and people. Having gone from the…
By: Russell Chun on November 14, 2024
言葉はささやき、行動は雷鳴のごとく。Words whisper, Actions thunder (Japanese) Part 1 Introduction, a history lesson Part 2 What my peers are saying Part 3 What I learned Part 4 Epilogue Part 1 Introduction, A history lesson Soon after the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, President Franklin Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066, effectively placing over 100,000 West Coast residents…
By: Adam Cheney on November 14, 2024
The little red dirt trail had become familiar as I walked between the tall grass and coconut trees. We had been living in a small village in Kenya for about a year and I had learned to always vary my route, never returning the same way I had come. Our arrival into the village we…
By: Graham English on November 14, 2024
“You can do anything you want”, is a mantra that I’ve heard parents often say to their kids, with the desire to see them maximize their potential. The concept of reaching one’s full potential has been a focal point in various fields of thought for centuries. Philosophers, psychologists, and theologians have extensively explored methods to…
By: Shela Sullivan on November 13, 2024
Introduction “True Grit,” is a 2010 American Western movie about a fourteen-year old girl, Mattie Ross,[1] who hires a drunken US Mashal, Rooster Cogburn to pursue her father’s murderer, Tom Chaney. Determined to see Chaney brought to justice, in two scenes, Mattie displays remarkable grit, such as when she crosses a river on horseback to…
By: Debbie Owen on November 13, 2024
Jesus asks many questions in the gospels. But the most powerful question he asks is, “What do you want?” For instance, he asks a blind man, Bartimaeus, in Mark 10:51-52, “What do you want me to do for you?” Bartimaeus replies, “Teacher, I want to see.” Isn’t that interesting? The man is obviously blind, yet…
By: Pam Lau on November 12, 2024
“Good relationships will keep you healthy and happy, healthier and happier than anything–including being right.[12] Chris Voss, a former FBI hostage negotiator, recommends using what he calls a “late night FM DJ voice during a hostage negotiation, which is a calm, soothing, and slightly downward inflected tone of voice designed to create a sense of…
By: Chad Warren on November 12, 2024
In a world where social media glorifies instant success and extraordinary talent, the YouTube group Dude Perfect exemplifies how perseverance and consistent effort are the foundation of their remarkable achievements. Known for their fantastic trick shots, they easily achieve the impossible, captivating millions with their seemingly effortless displays of talent. However, behind the scenes lies…
By: Jennifer Vernam on November 12, 2024
I will come clean. I was the person who suggested to Jason that we read the book How to Have Impossible Conversations.[1] (HTHIC) After all, I am the person in our cohort trying to develop a methodology for leaders to facilitate conversations in which there are deep differences of opinions while maintaining community. Why wouldn’t…
By: Glyn Barrett on November 12, 2024
Jesus is GRIT! Not only does this book define the Christian life, but it perfectly summarises Jesus. Before discussing Jesus, I will highlight the central premise of Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance, [1] before drawing an analogy with a movie, Jesus and my family. Angela Duckworth’s work on grit is absorbing and, in…
By: Scott Dickie on November 11, 2024
My title is a bit over-the-top, but it captures the direction I’d like to go in this post. But first let me address what, I suspect, many of us will recognize and wrestle with in relation to this book: Peter Boghossian is someone firmly entrenched in the atheist camp and he seems motivated to use…
By: Jeff Styer on November 11, 2024
Reading Angela Duckworth’s book Grit: The Power and Passion and Perseverance reminded me of a bike ride I took this past summer.[1] It was a two-day 132-mile ride on a 71-mile crushed gravel trail in West Virginia that parallels U.S. Route 50. This was a trail that my wife and I began several years ago…
By: Tim Clark on November 11, 2024
I was ready to be inspired when I started reading the book How to Have Impossible Conversations: A Very Practical Guide. After the first couple of chapters, it seemed like the book might be more about “how to have any conversations” than only the impossible ones because the principles and practices I started noticing in…
By: Kally Elliott on November 11, 2024
I’ve sworn off conversations about politics with my father. I haven’t told him this but I think he’s taken the hint. I’ve witnessed him trying really hard to not talk about politics with me. I can see him squirming, beginning to say something divisive (at least it is divisive from my perspective) and then stopping…
By: Travis Vaughn on November 10, 2024
Peter Boghossian and James Lindsay have written a practical book that provides a framework for “communicat(ing) effectively with people who hold radically different beliefs.”[1] How to Have Impossible Conversations “teaches you how to have conversations with anyone who’s willing to speak with you, even though those people and those conversations seem impossible.”[2] And this is…
By: Jennifer Eckert on November 10, 2024
“The difference between a successful person and others is not a lack of strength, not a lack of knowledge, but rather a lack in will.” — Attributed to Vince Lombardi Lombardi’s quote addresses the idea that grit is the will to keep pushing forward, and despite the difficulty, it is often a quality that determines…
