A growth mindset helps you bring forth your potential while a fixed mindset limits you. In my last article I discussed the characteristics of growth mindset thinking. This time I will describe the fixed mindset.
If you have a fixed mindset you believe that your talents, intelligence, and personality are fixed from birth. You are apt to worry that if you do not do well in something that you will be judged deficient. You fear making mistakes and if you do you consider yourself a failure. You are hesitant t o undertake new challenges because you fear that you will not do as well as you “should”. You tend to be rigid with your assessment of yourself and others.
Many of us were raised with the fixed mindset. Teachers and parents assumed that we had a specific amount of intelligence and judged us accordingly. Like most people I have both a fixed and growth mindset. I did not realize how powerful some of my fixed mindset beliefs were. My elementary school days were spent in Austria. The school culture was that of a fixed mindset. The view was that our intelligence was determined and most students got locked into an educational track at age ten. Other interests or talents were not considered.
Since I was a late bloomer it worked out well for me to come to the States when I was thirteen and found that I was not locked into a mold. I soon learned that it was up to me as to what I accomplished in life.
