The Research-Backed Way to Get Unstuck with Psychologist Angela Duckworth

Most of us have been taught that when something is not working, the answer is more discipline, more willpower, and more effort. Angela Duckworth, the University of Pennsylvania psychologist and bestselling author of Grit, built her career studying that idea. Her new book, Situated, asks us to look at everything surrounding that effort.

In this conversation, she explains how the people, places, objects, and cultures around us shape our motivation, behavior, and even who we become.

Angela shares the terrifying moment she nearly lost her mother during a snorkeling trip—and why it taught her to stop fighting the current and ask for help. She also opens up about a difficult period in her marriage that showed her how easily we can mistake the effects of someone’s circumstances for flaws in their character.

Tamsen and Angela discuss why we attach moral value to doing things the hard way, how the people closest to us change what feels possible, and where to begin when we cannot simply leave the job, home, or situation shaping us.

In this episode, you’ll learn:

- Why trying harder can keep us trapped in a losing situation

- The four parts of your environment to examine when you feel stuck

- How objects within three feet of you influence your behavior

- Why different people bring out different versions of who you are

- What you can change when your biggest circumstances are outside your control

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