Situated: Find the People and Places that Bring Out Your Best is an interesting book by Angela Duckworth

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is an interesting 2026 book by Angela Duckworth titled Situated: Find the People and Places that Bring Out Your Best. Google Books has a preview to page 49. In the Prologue, starting on page 5, she says:

 

“I am a psychologist and professor who researches motivation and achievement, and I began my career studying remarkably successful individuals. After a decade of study, I took a six-month sabbatical and did my very best to tell their stories. My first book, Grit, summed up everything I’d learned about passion and perseverance for long-term goals – a common denominator of world-class performers, no matter their area of specialization.

 

Now another decade has passed, and in that time, I’ve turned my attention from the psychological profiles of high achievers to a different common denominator – the strikingly similar features of their situations. In other words, my curiosity has taken me from what goes on inside the minds of high achievers to everything and everyone around them.

 

What I’ve learned is that situations wield enormous influence – and yet, strangely, we’re largely oblivious to their power. Mind over matter, we say. You can’t control the situation, but you can control how you react to it. It’s true that what we do is influenced by what we think – but it’s equally true that what we think is, in turn, influenced by where we are. Like it or not, our every thought and action is profoundly shaped by our peers and mentors, by our culture, and even by the objects in our personal space.”

 

This book is divided into four parts with 13 chapters and starting pages as follows:

 

Prologue  1

 

PART 1: SITUATIONAL AWARENESS

Chapter 1: Beyond Grit  11

Chapter 2: How Do We Change  25

Chapter 3: The Sweet Spot  41

Chapter 4: The Courage to Change  61

Chapter 5: Saving a Marriage from the Outside In  83

 

PART 2: SITUATIONAL AGENCY

Chapter 6: Set Up Your Space  101

Chapter 7: Pick Your Peers  127

Chapter 8: Attract Mentors  153

Chapter 9: Choose Your Culture  185

 

PART 3: SITUATIONAL RESPONSIBILTY

Chapter 10: Situational Parenting  213

Chapter 11: Situational Leadership  231

Chapter 10: Situational Citizenship  249

 

PART 4: CONCLUSION

Chapter 13: From Grit to Great  267

 

Epilogue  283

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Chapter 2 on How Do We Change she discusses the Three Boxes Model, where as shown above, a situation leads to thoughts and then a response.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And on page 29 she discusses how changing your situation will change those thoughts and response.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

In Chapter 3 on The Sweet Spot she has the 2x2 graphic with axes for Challenge and Support where, as is shown above in my colorized version, the best alternative (for growth) has both high value and high support.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And in Chapter 4, The Courage to Change, on page 78, she has another 2x2 graphic about your situations with axes for Inside/Outside and Uncontrollable/Controllable, as is shown above in my colorized version.

 

There is a review of this book by Megan O’Gieblyn in an article at the New Yorker on September 14, 2026 titled Is Will Power Overrated?