The Grit Guide for Teens

“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

“Teens today—more than ever—need to think about the long-term, persevere in the face of setbacks, and grow from their mistakes. Caren Baruch-Feldman’s The Grit Guide for Teens provides a road map to help teens meet the challenges of today’s competitive world. The Grit Guide for Teens has taken the latest research in the fields of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT), behavior change, and grit, and has made it accessible. This skills-building approach will help teens learn to grow psychologically. St. John’s University and The Albert Ellis Institute are proud to include Baruch-Feldman as one of their graduates. The Grit Guide for Teens is a must-have for today’s teens and the individuals who care about them.”
—Ray DiGiuseppe, PhD, ABPP, professor and chair of the department of psychology at St. John’s University, past president of the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies, and director of professional education at The Albert Ellis Institute

“The Grit Guide for Teens is a gift for adolescents and their parents! Caren Baruch-Feldman has written an essential survival guide for life! Easy to read and eminently helpful, high schools everywhere would do well to make this a life course!”
—Bob Ditter, MEd, LCSW, child-adolescent therapist, and national camp trainer and consultant

“Caren Baruch-Feldman does an excellent job of taking the latest research on grit and turning it into an accessible, user-friendly workbook for teens—the very people who can benefit most from a boost in grit and resilience.”
—Donna Stokes, executive editor for Live Happy magazine

“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

“Everywhere teens look, they are facing seeming catastrophes. This book is a much-needed guide to navigate the tumultuous emotional waters of youth. Caren Baruch-Feldman offers a highly creative, versatile conception of grit—one that can help teenagers step up to life and fully realize their possibilities!”
—Scott Barry Kaufman, scientific director at the Imagination Institute at the University of Pennsylvania and author of Ungifted

“Caren Baruch-Feldman has packed a lot of research, worksheets, and practical information into this important and timely book. Research shows that grit is considered the key to success, and having this workbook during the formative teen years could positively impact the rest of a person’s life.”
—Caroline Adams Miller, MAPP, author of Getting Grit and My Name is Caroline, and coauthor of Creating Your Best Life

“Just when you thought gritty kids were an endangered species, Caren Baruch-Feldman delivers a concise and engaging guide to teenage happiness. That’s right, brooding and complaining are not the default teenage mindsets. Success comes from perseverance, and Baruch-Feldman writes the ideal prescription. Drawing on scientific research without sounding stuffy for a second, Baruch-Feldman shares her winning formula through interviews with real teens, exercises for the reader, and goals that extend far beyond the pages of the workbook. Buy this book for every teen you know and watch inspiration turn to effort, skill, and achievement!”
—Christopher Thurber, PhD, ABPP, psychologist at Phillips Exeter Academy, coauthor of The Summer Camp Handbook, and cofounder of www.expertonlinetraining.com

“The Grit Guide for Teens is fabulous. This inspirational guide provides very practical and accessible information and activities for teens that are underpinned by rigorous, up-to-date psychological research. The book provides a sound evidence base for what works best to facilitate teens’ psychological well-being and resilience. The step-by-step strategies in this book will make it easy for teens to apply these important concepts in their own lives, and are written in a style that will appeal to both teens and adults.”
—Toni Noble, PhD, adjunct professor at the Institute for Positive Psychology & Education at Australian Catholic University, and coauthor of Bounce Back!
 
“Success—however we define it—requires the ability to persist when the going gets tough. So does overcoming almost any kind of adversity. The Grit Guide for Teens is easy to read, and shows you how to become more persistent, successful, and resilient with whatever you set out to do in life.”
—Mark Bertin, MD, developmental pediatrician and author of Mindful Parenting for ADHD and How Children Thrive
 
“Persistence-perseverance-grit: from my perspective it is when purpose and practice transform desire into accomplishment. Caren Baruch-Feldman has created an excellent workbook that can help every young person become more skilled and focused, and every educator and parent more intentional and motivated.”
—Gil G. Noam, PhD, EdD, faculty member at Harvard Medical School, and founder and director of The PEAR Institute: Partnerships in Education and Resilience, at Harvard University
 
“Grit expert Caren Baruch-Feldman has created an engaging, interesting, and helpful workbook for teens who want to transform their passions and talents into true skills. The Grit Guide for Teens seamlessly incorporates current research on grit, developing optimism, growth mind-set, good habits, gratitude, and self-control—and creates step-by-step instructions that make understanding this complex research accessible and fun. As a school psychologist, I can see myself working through these chapters with my students, individually or in groups, to their great benefit. I look forward to counting on The Grit Guide for Teens to help my students learn invaluable lessons about themselves and growing their grit in order to achieve their goals.”
—Rebecca Comizio, MA-Ed, MA, nationally certified school psychologist (NCSP)
 
“As high school educators, we have always been interested in our students’ investment in their learning, and not just in the quality of their work output. We speak often about grit as an integral habit of mind, but we are never quite certain how to instill and inspire it within our students. Caren Baruch-Feldman has given teenagers and those of us charged to work with them an invaluable and accessible tool with which we might all self-reflect and grow. The Grit Guide for Teens is a breakthrough.”
—Mark Shinar, EdD, director of general studies at SAR High School
 
“The Grit Guide for Teens is a comprehensive, exciting, and—most importantly—fun guide for young people to help them develop resilience skills in the face of an increasingly stressful and anxiety-ridden world. Baruch-Feldman delves into current research on grit and positive psychology, speaks to teenagers at their level, and engages them using their language and interests. I would highly recommend this book to any teen who crosses my path.”
—Elizabeth Wright, Paralympic medalist and cofounder of the character education program at Resilience Wellbeing Success
 
“As teens coming out of high school, this book is absolutely a must-read! Working on it with Caren Baruch-Feldman has not only taught us about grit, but more about ourselves than we could have ever imagined. For any teen with any struggle, it is the ultimate recipe for success, with tools for conquering common obstacles like self-control, pessimism, and giving up. This book is truly life changing!”
—Kira Cohen and Katie Parker, recent graduates from SAR High School
 
“A must-have for teens and their parents. Simple, elegant, scientifically-proven, and practical.”
—Braco Pobric, author of Habits and Happiness
 
“Significantly beneficial for helping teens develop ‘true grit.’ Caren Baruch-Feldman offers step-by-step instructions with easy-to-understand activities that will help a generation of adolescents who struggle with stick-to-itiveness.”
—Marcella Moran, LMHC, coauthor of Organizing the Disorganized Child