I have been devouring Grit by Angela Duckworth, a book that has sat with me for years, and I cannot believe it took me this long to actually get into it. At its core, it helps you understand what it means to be a gritty person, but the first step is surprisingly simple: you need to know your goal.
As humans, we are rarely working toward just one thing. We are restless and easily pulled in multiple directions. Duckworth explains this through the concept of hierarchy of goals, the idea that our ambitions exist on different levels, from small daily tasks all the way up to a single overarching purpose. (I’ve attached a video below for a quick visual breakdown.)
Reading this pushed me to sit down and identify my own main goal and, honestly, to audit everything beneath it. Some lower-level goals needed to go. Others needed to be reshaped so they actually serve where I am trying to go. I think of this main goal as your purpose; the two words can be used interchangeably once you understand what they point to. Duckworth’s own purpose, for example, is to use psychological science to help individuals, especially children, thrive by developing grit and self-control.
What struck me most was realizing how scattered my own goals had become. I was overcomplicating things, layering ambition on top of ambition without checking whether any of it was actually aligned. The truth is, what we want from life is usually simple. The path is what gets complicated. But it helps to pause and remind yourself: you probably have not strayed away as far from your original goal as it feels. You just need to clear the noise around it.
If you would like to see a video of me doing this, comment below.
What I’m Reading
Grit — Angela Duckworth (Finished)
This one really stays with you. It breaks down the idea that success isn’t just about talent; it’s about consistency, resilience, and showing up even when it’s hard.
A Different Kind of Power - Jacinda Ardern
It reflects on her journey into leadership and the personal values that guided her time in office. It explores how empathy, resilience, and compassion can redefine strength in politics and inspire a more human-centered approach to power.
What Else Dropped This Week
Off Script
How Katherine Built Francis Henri During The Pandemic.
Under the Hood
Outdoor Voices: The Inside Story of Ty Haney
Note to My Future Self
You will meet people on this path. Many of them.
Some will be so interesting, so full of life, so different from anything you have known, that they will make you stop and wonder if you have been living wrong. They will open doors in your mind you didn’t know were closed. They will make you question the direction, the pace, sometimes even the destination.
And that’s okay. Let them. That is part of it.
But here is what I want you to remember when that happens.
The people who shake you are not signs that you are on the wrong path. They are just reminders that the world is bigger than you thought. You can be moved by someone and still return to yourself. You can be changed by an encounter and still know where you are going. The two are not in conflict.
Because at the end of every detour, every distraction, every beautiful and unexpected thing that pulls you sideways, there is still a question waiting for you.
What are you willing to keep going for, even when it’s hard?
Be bold. Be real. Be Anomalous.
— Sai Menon
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