Grit - Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success

The book is divided into 2 parts. In the first part, the author explains how excellence and genius can be achieved through Grit. How we as a society are so obsessed with the naturals and geniuses with high IQs, and we give too little importance to the efforts put into achieving excellence. What good is talent when you don’t put it to use, and yet when we hear of naturals, we get excited? Talent is necessary, but it is not the only thing that defines success. Dr. Duckworth summarizes this with a simple formula ““ Talent x Effort = Skill, Skill x Effort = Excellence. But it is not just perseverance; she defines Grit as something that you do repeatedly and improve progressively since you like it and find a purpose in it.

© 2026 Sindhuja Cheema Enzinger. All Rights Reserved.

Talking to Strangers

I did not know what to expect from this book, and once again, without reading into the reviews, I went ahead and purchased it. It was not what I expected it to be, but I liked it very much. I thought it was a behavioral psychology book. It does dwell into human behavior and psychology, but presents it differently and brilliantly.

This is a book about communication and miscommunication. The book discusses why and how information can get misinterpreted and misunderstood. It starts off by describing how a regular traffic stop for failing to signal leads to an arrest and eventually results in the convicted driver committing suicide. Simple situations can end up tragically when actions and words are misinterpreted. The book also explores how we can get conditioned through media and movies to interpret a certain set of facial expressions and reactions, and how this can be misleading in different cultures. It also emphasizes the importance of pausing before making a judgment and trying to study the behavior of the other party before drawing conclusions from a conversation.

© 2026 Sindhuja Cheema Enzinger. All Rights Reserved.