Why Young People Are Struggling | Angela Duckworth

Angela Duckworth (0:00)

Traditionally, the younger you are, the happier you are. But since about 2010, the data look very different. The young people are incredibly unhappy. They are at historical levels of anxiety, depression, loneliness and despair. Hospital admissions for self-harm are up. Suicide attempts are up. And so I have been thinking about what the heck is going on.

Michael Gervais (0:22)

Welcome back, or welcome to the Finding Mastery podcast, where we dive into the minds of the world's greatest thinkers and doers. I'm your host, Dr. Michael Gervais.

Angela Duckworth (0:31)

A high-performance psychologist named Michael Gervais.

Michael Gervais (0:33)

Who Pete Carroll brought in to work with the Seahawks. Famous for his work with Felix Baumgartner when he jumped out of space in the Stratos Project.

SPEAKER_3 (0:41)

Olympic athletes depend on something more than just training and talent.

Angela Duckworth (0:44)

They have to stay mentally tough.

Michael Gervais (0:47)

Now, the idea behind these conversations is simple. It's to sit with the extraordinary, to learn, to really learn how they work from the inside out. Today's conversation is with colleague and friend, Dr. Angela Duckworth, Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania, best-selling author, and one of the world's leading voices on grit, self-control, and the psychological science to help people thrive.

Angela Duckworth (1:10)

The gist of grit was people become excellent, not through magic, not through natural talent, but through hours and hours of high-quality practice. We tend to look at the highlight reel, which gives us a impression of what that journey really looks like.

Michael Gervais (1:29)

We also dig into some powerful and very practical parenting insights.

Angela Duckworth (1:32)

The whole job of parenting is to create situations in which kids can thrive, and I think good parenting is intentional. You have to think, what zip code have I decided to live in, and where do I send my kid to school? Because guess what? Those are the environments that will shape your kid, and maybe they're not listening to you, but they're sure as heck listening to their peers.

Michael Gervais (1:51)

With that, let's jump into this week's conversation with Dr. Angela Duckworth. Angela, this is like a highlight for me, to be able to carve out an hour for us to just celebrate, you know, what you've been doing, who you are, how you're thinking about helping people be their best. And so thank you again in advance for the conversation.

Angela Duckworth (2:16)

Mike, it has been too long. I don't know how long it's been, but it's been too long. I'm looking forward to it.

Michael Gervais (2:21)

So it's also been 10 years since you wrote the book, Grip, and so much has changed in the world. And you influenced so many people. Quick question, like just to kind of get us started. What do you see differently right now about your work, that, you know, seminal work on Grip?

Angela Duckworth (2:40)

I'm going to start by saying that I agree with everything I said 10 years ago. I have read Grip relatively recently because I teach this undergraduate course to students really from all different majors. It's one of these classes at a university that has like all different majors. But my class doesn't count, I don't think, for any of them. So you have to really just really want to develop yourself as a person. And I sign parts of my book as required reading. And of course, I have to do the same homework assignments as my students. So I've read grit recently and I stand by what I said. I mean, the gist of grit was that people become excellent, not through magic, not through natural talent, but through hours and hours of high-quality practice. They wake up and they do it again, and they do it at the edge of their abilities. And the reason I didn't just say like, oh, I study perseverance, like why have a new word that you think is special to high performers? Because it's this perseverance and it's also a passion. I mean, they wake up every day, they do it again, and they love what they do. I am sure, Mike, that you think about your work when you don't have to. I think about my work in the shower, I think about it when I'm brushing my teeth, I think about it when I'm dreaming, I think about it when I'm in line for coffee. So really, 10 years on, I feel like that fundamental principle that going the distance is really a journey, and it is one step at a time. And when we see people who are amazing at what they do, I think we don't see the hours and hours of effort that got them there.