I shouldn't have done that.

I'm Angela Duckworth.

I'm Stephen Dubner.

And you're listening to no stupid questions.

Today on the show, what happens when super disciplined people lose their self-control?

There are a lot of things that you would not do for $100 that you might consider for

a billion dollars.

Angela, I know that you are working on a new book and one question that you're trying

to answer within that book intrigues me greatly.

The question is something like, why do some people with extraordinarily high levels of self-control

in certain areas of their life totally blow it in other areas?

In a couple of examples, I know you use our Elliott Spitzer and Tiger Woods.

So I want to know the answer to that question.

And I guess what I'm asking for is a preview of the book that you're only now writing.

But how can you explain that?

And what does it mean for the rest of us?

You're right, Stephen.

I'm fascinated and have been for a long time about how variable our self-control is across

different situations.

You know, I remember when the editor and literary agent convinced me to write grit.

I said to them, I mostly study self-control.

Look at my CV.

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