“Our potential is one thing. What we do with it is quite another.” (14)

Since I was a child, Dad told me laziness is the kryptonite of all smart people. He would tell me that I am a smart kid, and that means I won’t have to work as hard as others to achieve the same thing. “But isn’t that a good thing?” I’d respond. “Not at all,” he would smile, with a stern, concerned look in his eyes. “You’re going to have to fight against yourself for the rest of your life. When it really matters, hard work beats talent.” As if I understood, I would nod and pinky-promise to always try my best. Of course, that didn’t happen.

During 6th or 7th grade, on pi day, March 14th, our math class hosted a competition in which students tried to memorize as many digits of pi as we could. I won 2nd place, with 500 digits. The kid who won 1st place memorized around 800. I took my winning of 50 pesos home with a smile on my face and told my parents of their son’s recent achievement. Mom was pretty happy. Dad had some questions. “Why did you choose to memorize 500 digits?” he asked. “I didn’t think anyone else would memorize more,” I answered. He smacked the side of my head with his knuckles, soft enough for me to know that it was friendly, but hard enough for me to know there was a lesson coming. “That’s what you get for overestimating yourself and underestimating others.” I replied, “it’s still second place, though!” I got smacked again.

I picked up Grit in reflection of my past and present struggles against my own lazy tendencies. Laziness is a personal demon of mine. I’ve accepted its existence and continue to battle it, even though I know that it won’t ever disappear. In reading about grit and the science behind it, I hoped to learn more about the significance behind continuing this fight. And through the accounts of various successful individuals and those who have supported their growth, I feel fortunate to have come upon this book, especially at this stage in life.