Self-Growth: What Kind Of Mindset Do You Have?

Do you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset?  I have been fascinated for a long time as to how come some people remain active and involved throughout life and others end up limiting themselves. Recently I have been reading about the groundbreaking ideas on mindset  put forth by Dr. Carol Dweck a psychologist at Stanford University. This is what she found upon studying success and achievement:

1. The fixed mindset  people believe that their basic qualities like intelligence and talent are fixed traits. They do not develop their intelligence and talents believing that just having them will assure success.

2. The growth mindset  people believe that their basic abilities can be developed through hard work. They view intelligence and talent as being the starting point.  They are willing to dedicate time and effort to developing their intelligence and talents.

I happen to believe that someone with a fixed mindset can develop a growth mindset when he/she finds a compelling reason to do so.  I have been in the people-growing field all of my professional life and have seen over and over how people have been able to take leadership of their own lives. They have shifted their fixed mindset to a growth mindset. The reason for this shift was that they were not happy with how their life was going.  They used this unhappiness as a launchpad to embark on the journey of growth.  I have known people with a growth mindset who discovered  that they could evolve their lives even more.  The compelling reason for these mindset shifts has been a deep desire to feel happy, have  meaningful relationships, and to make the most of ones abilities and talents.

2 comments to Self-Growth: What Kind Of Mindset Do You Have?

  • My daughter, despite all my encouragement, was coasting through life–until I told her she couldn’t get her driver’s permit unless she earned a B average. A driver’s permit is a very large lever. She stormed about for a few days, then settled down. With just a bit of effort, she earned nearly all As. I had known she could do this, and now she did, too. She graduated from college with honors. Thanks to her driver’s permit.

  • Great. It is helpful for people to see that they can grow out of their old ways of viewing the world.

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