Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research, Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success. Rather, the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called "grit." To succeed, we must identify our passions and follow through on our commitments. Drawing on her own powerful story as the daughter of a scientist who frequently bemoaned her lack of smarts, Duckworth describes her winding path through teaching, business consulting, and neuroscience, which led to the hypothesis that what really drives success is not "genius" but a special blend of passion and long-term perseverance. As a professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Duckworth created her own "character lab" and set out to test her theory.