一
本书首先从介绍西点军校入学的野兽营开始，野兽营，比正常的新生军训要严格得多，从名字叫可以看到。其实能够走进野兽营的，已经非同凡响了。这是在14000名年轻人申请西点，最终只有不到十分之一经过严格的学业和体能测试，最后有1200人会被录取，所以能够参加野兽营的都已经是佼佼者了。可是每五个学员中间会有一个提前退学。其中很多都是在第一个夏天的野兽营中离开的，花费那么大的努力来到西点，却在开头的两个月里退出了。是什么让人退出，是什么让人留下呢？
西点的老师们也很苦恼，退出的人中和学业无关，和体能无关，好像没有任何规律。最后作者通过与一位在西点工作多年的心理学家Mike交谈后，得出的结论是，退出者的身上缺少一种永不放弃的态度。Those who dropped out of training rarely did so from lack of ability. Rather, what mattered, Mike said,was a“never give up”attitude.
在西点军校的这个发现，让作者想去了解军校以外的事情，所以她去采访了很多牛人。“I interview leaders in business, art, athletics, journalism, academia, medicine, and law。”她这样做的目的就是想要知道“Who are the people at the very top of your field? What are they like? What do you think makes them special?”
最后她发现“It was this combination of passion and perseverance that made high achievers special. In a word, they had grit.”
然后坐下来开始设计自己的“Grit Scale”。
I sat down and looked over my interview notes. And I started writing questions that captured, sometimes verbatim, descriptions of what it means to have grit.
Half of the questions were about perseverance. They asked how much you agree with statements like“I have overcome setbacks to conquer an important challenge”and“I finish whatever I begin.”
The other half of the questions were about passion. They asked whether your“interests change from year to year”and the extent to which you“have been obsessed with a certain idea or project for a short time but later lost interest.”
What emerged was the Grit Scale—a test that, when taken honestly,measures the extent to which you approach life with grit.
通过“Grit Scale”测试，我们能够很容易的预测那些人在生活和工作中，更容易放弃。那些人更容易取得最后的成功。
二
Grit这个词，原义是沙砾，但也有其比喻义。解释为：面对挫折与危险上，精神或思想上的坚定。但作者赋予了这个词更多外延，作者认为，坚毅意味着对一件你所倾心的事努力，并且一直持续忠实于此。也就是说，能长期精一于所做之事。坚毅，不只是一见倾心，更是长相厮守。因此，那些聪明、热情果敢的创业者未必是坚毅者，因为创业者往往跟着资本走，不会对一件事业持续努力。
Grit不是Talent。坚毅是可以通过培养而获得的，在书中作者指出，我们可以通过四个步骤来培养我们自身的坚毅的。
一、INTEREST。
“My advice for you is, figure out what you enjoy doing most in life, and then try to do it full-time. Life is short. Follow your passion.”
在追随我们的兴趣前，我们需要先培养激情。对于兴趣，可能需要通过多年的寻找，才能发掘自己真正感兴趣的事物。发现兴趣后，继而发展兴趣，更进一步深化兴趣。做自己真正感兴趣的事情你才会一直做下去。
二、PRACTICE
研究发现坚毅的孩子会比其他孩子练习的时间更多。
In one of my earliest research studies, I found that grittier kids at the National Spelling Bee practiced more than their less gritty competitors. These extra hours of practice, in turn, explained their superior performance in final competition.
This finding made a lot of sense. As a math teacher, I’d observed a huge range in effort among my students. Some kids spent, quite literally, zero minutes a week on their homework; others studied for hours a day. Considering all the studies showing that gritty people typically stick with their commitments longer than others, it seemed like the major advantage of grit was, simply, more time on task.
但是练习并不是盲目的重复性的练习，练习需要刻意练习（“刻意练习”这个概念在美国也是很流行的啊，上一本书so good that they can’t ignore you。里面也谈到了这个概念）。
•A clearly defined stretch goal
•Full concentration and effort
•Immediate and informative feedback
•Repetition with reflection and refinement
对于刻意练习作者给出的几点建议：a.刻意练习要求：清晰定义的目标，完全的专注与努力，及时与有效的反馈，以及通过反思(reflection)和提炼(refinement)之后的重复用功。b.要让刻意练习能有最大成效，最好让这种刻意练习成为你的习惯c.改善体验刻意练习的方式。如婴儿学步一般，跌倒再爬起，不要有受挫、尴尬、恐惧等负面情绪。
三、PURPOSE
要培养坚毅，需要有目的。
Interest is one source of passion. Purpose—the intention to contribute to the well-being of others—is another. The mature passions of gritty people depend on both.
兴趣是激情源泉之一，而为了他人的福利而奉献的目的，同样也有助于锻造激情。
当然，人们会在pleasure与purpose之间有所侧重与取舍。作者调查的坚毅模范者，他们也与普通人一样，追求个人享受，但很明显的是，这些模范者却表现出相比普通人更多的利他情怀。
四、HOPE
要有希望
What is hope?
One kind of hope is the expectation that tomorrow will be better than today. It’s the kind of hope that has us yearning for sunnier weather, or a smoother path ahead. It comes without the burden of responsibility. The onus is on the universe to make things better.
Grit depends on a different kind of hope. It rests on the expectation that our own efforts can improve our future. I have a feeling tomorrow will be better is different from I resolve to make tomorrow better. The hope that gritty people have has nothing to do with luck and everything to do with getting up again.
“杀不死你的，会使你更强壮”。用发展的思维模式（growth mindset)来看待问题，培养乐观的心态。
