
December 5, 2020
GRIT Part 1: The Power of Passion and Perseverance with Angela Duckworth | The James Altucher Show
Check out The James Altucher Show Episode Page & Show Notes
Key Takeaways
- You will get criticized no matter what you do, so develop a thick skin
- When giving a contrarian opinion, use stories to help overcome cognitive dissonance
- Mastery is acquired over thousands of hours of deliberate practice
- Make gratitude a habit, think of 3 things to be grateful for every morning
- “There are different ways to look at something and there different things to look at” – Angela Duckworth
- Be aware of where your attention goes and how you interpret reality
- Grit is having stamina, passion, and perseverance for long-term goals
- Passion is a game of duration rather than intensity. Finding and growing into your passion is a gradual process
- Ask yourself, why did you begin doing something in the first place, what sparked your attraction?
Intro
- Angela Duckworth (@angeladuckw) is an American academic, psychologist and author of Grit
- Check out her website
- Host: James Altucher (@jaltucher)
Develop a Thick Skin
- You will always be criticized no matter your opinions or your work, so listen to good arguments and develop a thick skin for other criticisms
- Criticisms usually trigger a cognitive dissonance reaction;
,this is especially true of opinions that go against what you believe to be true- For instance, opinions like don’t go to college, voting is meaningless, don’t buy a house
Overcoming Cognitive Dissonance
- You can deliver your message without being tone-deaf and without changing your beliefs
- To that end, use stories to help people overcome cognitive dissonance
- Keep in mind, stories are dangerously useful, people may get carried away and believe things that are not true
- The timing of your message matters, people will evaluate what you say in addition to when you say it
- This reflects where people think the conversation ought to be
- Remember, “The more you stick out like a nail, the more likely you are to get hammered” – James Altucher
Deliberate Practice
- In Peak, author Anders Ericsson argues that expertise is acquired over thousands of hours of deliberate practice, rather than a talent one is born with
- Think of hours of practice as assembling chunks of domain expertise. While a talent is a shortcut to the first few hundred chunks, a grandmaster has 100K chunks
- Most things in human nature are continua, not categories
- People fall on different parts on the spectrum of talent and they learn at different rates
Grit
- Grit is having stamina, passion and perseverance for long-term goals
- Passion is a game of duration rather than intensity
- Passionate people spend a lifetime consistently honing their craft
- It’s a romanticized idea that finding your passion is a sudden abundant realization
- In reality, it’s a gradual process and many grow into their calling
- Ask yourself, why did you begin doing something in the first place, what sparked your attraction?
Happiness
- Everybody has got a different baseline for happiness and you can always shift your positional set point in an enduring way, no matter your genes or previous experience
- In effect, intentionally making yourself happier
- Make gratitude a habit, think of 3 things to be grateful for every morning
- Happy people frame negative events in positive light
- “There are different ways to look at something and there different things to look at” – Angela Duckworth
- Be aware of where your attention goes and how you interpret reality
Pandemic Issues
- Restaurants are going out of business because of extended shutdowns and regulations, even more with winter coming
- This has a crippling effect on taxes and tourism revenues that pay for all the services in New York city
- 1 in 4 New Yorkers haven’t paid rent since March and people are leaving their apartments in a mass exodus
- Put simply, nobody keeps 10 months in cash saved up for rent
Miscellaneous
- Repetitive advertisements and exposure prime you for purchasing something
- Cities have different cultures, some can embody a culture of grit more than others
- A house isn’t an asset; it’s a consumption good
- People park their capital in houses, but it doesn’t generate income like an actual asset is supposed to