Stop Doing Things the Hard Way with Dr. Angela Duckworth

When we’re struggling to reach a goal, most of us assume the answer is to buckle down and try harder. But what if all that white-knuckling is actually making things more difficult than they need to be? Dr. Laurie speaks with psychologist Angela Duckworth, best known for her groundbreaking work on grit, about a surprising new approach to achievement. In her new book, Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best , Angela explains why changing what’s around us can sometimes be more effective than trying to change ourselves. Experts Mentioned: Angela Duckworth , Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania Lee Ross , Professor of Psychology at Stanford University Richard Nisbett , Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Michigan James Gross , Professor of Psychology at Stanford University Adrian Ward , Associate Professor of Marketing at University of Texas at Austin Joseph Henrich , Professor of Biological Anthropology and Professor of Human Evolutionary Biology at Harvard University Bob Bowman , Director of Swimming and Diving and Head Men’s Coach at University of Texas at Austin Martin Seligman , Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania Anders Ericsson , Professor of Psychology at Florida State University Walter Mischel , Professor Emeritus of Psychology at Columbia University Reinhold Niebuhr , Protestant theologian Viktor Frankl , Austrian psychiatrist and neurologist Resources Mentioned: Situated: Find the People and Places That Bring Out Your Best , by Angela Duckworth (2026) Grit: The Power and Passion of Perseverance , by Angela Duckworth (2016) The Person and the Situation: Perspectives on Social Psychology , by Lee Ross and Richard Nisbett (1991) Frog and Toad Together , by Arnold Lobel (1972) Man's Search for Meaning , by Viktor Frankl (1946) “ The Serenity Prayer ,” by Reinhold Niebuhr The Art of War , by Sun Tzu The Golden Rules: 10 Steps to World-Class Excellence in Your Life and Work , by Bob Bowman (2016) “ A Stitch in Time: Strategic Self-Control in High School and College Students ,” by Angela Duckworth, Rachel White, Alyssa Matteucci, Annie Shearer, and James Gross ( Journal of Educational Psychology , 2016) “ Self-Control and Academic Achievement ,” by Angela Duckworth, Jamie Taxer, Lauren Eskreis-Winkler, Brian Galla, and James Gross ( Annual Review of Psychology , 2019) “ Self-control and SAT outcomes: Evidence from two national field studies ,” by Chayce Baldwin, Kyla Haimovitz, Priya Shankar, Robert Gallop, David Yeager, James Gross, and Angela Duckworth ( PLoS One , 2022) “ Situational Strategies for Self-Control ,” by Angela Duckworth, Tamar Szabó Gendler, and James Gross ( Perspectives on Psychological Science , 2016) “ Brain Drain: The Mere Presence of One's Own Smartphone Reduces Available Cognitive Capacity ,” by Adrian Ward, Kristen Duke, Ayelet Gneezy, and Maarten Bos. ( Journal of the Association for Consumer Research , 2017) “ A 2-Phase Labeling and Choice Architecture Intervention to Improve Healthy Food and Beverage Choices ,” by Anne N Thorndike, Lillian Sonnenberg, Jason Riis, Susan Barraclough, and Douglas E Levy ( American Journal of Public Health , 2012) “ Innovation in the collective brain ,” by Michael Muthukrishna and Joseph Henrich ( Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B , 2016) Related Episodes: “ Your Environment Affects Your Happiness More Than You Think with Dr. Leidy Klotz ” “ How to Spend Your Time and Money Better (with Nobel Prize Winner Richard Thaler) ” “ The Man Who Invented Happiness Science: Marty Seligman ” “ How Our Screen Habits Impact Our Stress Levels ” See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.