Grit Guide for Teens: A Workbook to Help You Build Perseverance, Self-Control, and a Growth Mindset

When the going gets tough, it’s time to get gritty. Written by a clinical-child and school psychologist and based in the latest research, The Grit Guide for Teens will help you build perseverance, resilience, self-control, and stamina.

As a teen, setting and reaching goals is an important part of growing up. Whether you want to do well in school, get into a good college, make friends, excel in sports, or master the fine arts or music—you know you need to persevere in order to succeed. You’ve probably heard the term “grit” at school or from your parents, but what does it really mean?

Made popular by Angela Duckworth in her New York Times bestseller, the term “grit,” embodies all the characteristics that help people accomplish the things they want, such as self-control, tenacity, and the ability to fail well. Using the skills outlined in this book, you’ll develop both grit and a growth mind-set—a way of thinking that focuses on improvement and hard work in order to achieve any goal you set for yourself. You’ll learn how to make grit an everyday habit, turn disappointments into opportunities, embrace challenges, manage stress, and be the very best version of you that you can be.

Studies show that grit isn’t something you have to be born with—it can be taught and learned! This book will give you everything you need to get gritty, open your mind to all life’s possibilities, and succeed in everything you do.

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Table of Contents

Foreword

Introduction

Chapter 1: Understanding Grit: Grit 101

• Activity 1 What Is Grit?
• Activity 2 How Much Grit Do I Have?
• Activity 3 Where Do I Need To Be Grittier?
• Activity 4 Your Formula for Grit
• Activity 5 Making Grit Matter

Chapter 2: Developing a Gritty Mind-Set

• Activity 6 Your Two Minds: Connecting to Your Future Self
• Activity 7 Uncovering Your Thinking Traps
• Activity 8 Goodby'e Pessimism, Hello Optimism
• Activity 9 Nurturing a Growth Mind-Set
• Activity 10 The Power of Yet
• Activity 11 Seeing Failure as an Opportunity for Growth
• Activity 12 Let's Review Our Gritty Mind-Set

Chapter 3: Developing Gritty Behaviour Activity

• 13. Setting Effective Goals
• Activity 14 Practising Makes Perfect
• Activity 15 Putting What You Want to Achieve Front and Centre
• Activity 16 Developing Self-Control: How to Not Eat the Marshmallow
• Activity 17 Making Grit a Habit
• Activity 18 Let's Review Our Gritty Behaviour

Chapter 4: Overcoming Barriers to Grit

• Activity 19 Connecting to Your Values and Finding a Sense of Purpose
• Activity 20 Encouraging Mindfulness and Gratitude
• Activity 21 Coping with Stress
• Activity 22 Finding Your Cheerleader and Building a Community of Grit
• Activity 23 Putting It All Together: Grit for Life

Acknowledgements

Notes

"Caren Baruch-Feldman has synthesized a masterful workbook that will prepare young people to thrive in both good and challenging times. There are so many books written for adults on how to shape teens. Finally, here is one written for youth in a respectful, understandable, actionable tone that inherently recognizes young people as experts in their own lives who will take the reins when offered the tools to become their best selves. Bravo."
- Kenneth Ginsburg, MD, MS-Ed, author of Building Resilience in Children and Teens and Raising Kids to Thrive

"As a forty-year, veteran educator that has worked with Angela Duckworth since she was in graduate school, I am pleased to endorse The Grit Guide for Teens. Baruch-Feldman incorporates strategies such as flow charts, goal setting, sentence completion, and self-reflection and writing exercises that will engage teenagers, and lead them to self-discovery and growth. The Grit Guide for Teens is an essential tool for educators, parents, and anyone seeking to better grasp and assist young people in their path to success."
- David Meketon, school research liaison to Duckworth Lab in the department of psychology at the University of Pennsylvania

"Today’s world is filled with stress and pressure—acutely felt by many teens. Caren Baruch-Feldman has written a truly remarkable book that provides teens with realistic and practical strategies for managing challenging situations and developing perseverance, grit, and resilience. Baruch-Feldman’s empathy for the world experienced by teens and her clinical acumen, warmth, and humor are apparent throughout this book. In addition, her online recommendations for parents and teachers to nurture grit in adolescents serve as a wonderful resource."
- Robert Brooks, PhD, faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and coauthor of Raising Resilient Children

"How do you turn knowledge into skills, and skills into life? How do you find and grab the knowledge you need when you need it? In The Grit Guide for Teens, Caren Baruch-Feldman is funneling important information about grit and how to build it to adolescents, their parents, and teachers. The why, the what, and the how of grit is the scaffold for this important story about how to build a life of passion, persistence, and purpose, developing skills that will help teens (and anyone) to navigate life in all its glory—chaos, opportunity, trouble and luck! In increasingly uncertain times, building a strong inner life and a healthy psychological core will help. The Grit Guide for Teens is gold!"
- Gabrielle Kelly, director of the Wellbeing and Resilience Centre at the South Australian Health and Medical Research Institute