My strong belief is that if you can make the students really believe that their goal is achievable for them, it will help them to build their grit. It is when they believe that the goal is not achievable for them that they give up. 

@gabrielsorci :How would you differentiate persistance from "grit" as Dr. Duckworth explains?  My take is that Dr. Duckworth is indeed discussing persistence - grit as one's quality of being able to persavere.  Her studies have led her to develop a grit scale to measure grit as a predictor of success.  Her research is currently being applied to college completion with implications for better understanding student retention and how to create experiences that lead students to developing more of this quality of "grit" vs. less.  She believes, like most human qualities, grit is not fixed; that it can be nurtured and learned.  I think this is very interesting research important to higher education.  I too believe that perseverance can be learned but think we don't know enough about it yet because studies about the attributes that lead to achievement, as Dr. Duckworth explains, have primarily focused on intelligence which she is finding plays a less significant role than we think.  In fact, she has shown that "grit" is a better predictor of achievement.  Very interesting stuff! 

To unlock our talent what is needed is persistance, honesty, and integrity.