Fixed or Growth Mindset?
March 27, 2012 1 CommentRight now I’m listening to an amazing audio book by Carol Dweck titled, “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success“. What I love about this book is the simple, but powerful, way it explains why some of us achieve so much in life, while others of us struggle.
People with a ‘fixed mindset‘ don’t achieve as much as they could have, and therefore, don’t have as much of a fulfilling life. Those that have a ‘growth mindset‘ are always trying to improve and to achieve more. The thing is, almost everyone doesn’t realise that they have either a fixed or growth mindset. I didn’t.
The Fixed Mindset
People with a fixed mindset are those that believe that the natural talents and abilities that we born with define us. A fixed mindset person believes that some are more intelligent, more co-ordinated, more musical, etc than others and nothing can change that.
Fixed mindset people enjoy being praised for their achievements and don’t like to go beyond them, because it might mean failure. A fixed mindset person likes to always be on top and will do anything to keep the status quo, when it is in their favour.
The fixed mindset person doesn’t like to see others go beyond what they have achieved.
The Growth Mindset
People with the growth mindset are those that believe that you can learn to do anything well. A growth mindset person believes that no matter what talents or abilities they possess, they can learn to become proficient, and even the best, at any task, sport, creative art, etc if they learn the correct skills and apply themselves.
Growth mindset people don’t need to be honoured or praised to be motivated to achieve high standards. If they struggle with a task they don’t see it as a failure but rather that they just need to work harder and/or smarter. They don’t care if they come up first, they are content in knowing that they did their all.
The growth mindset person tries to elevate those around them to their level and beyond.
Are You a Fixed or Growth Mindset Person?
Looking back on my life, I can see that I have displayed both qualities of a fixed and growth mindset. Probably more so I was a fixed mindset person growing up. While I am starting to move more over to the growth mindset, it has helped a lot to identify the two ways of thinking. This will definitely help me to eliminate fixed mindset habits out of my life much easier.
I highly recommend that you read or listen to this life-changing book. You can download it from Audible or buy it on Amazon.
Phsicological limitations are the most dificults, invisbles, incomprehensibles.
Thankyou for this post.