Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Mindset was a really meaningful read for me, and it changed the way I look at challenges and personal growth. The core idea — the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset — sounds simple at first, but the more you read, the more you realize how often these patterns show up in everyday life. What I liked most is how the book breaks down how our beliefs about ability and talent can either hold us back or push us forward. It made me think about times where I avoided challenges or got frustrated too quickly, and how much of that came from thinking “I’m just not good at this.” The book does a great job showing that with effort, learning, and perseverance, you can grow far beyond where you started. The examples from sports, business, education, and parenting help drive the point home in a way that’s easy to connect to your own life. I also appreciated how the book shows that a growth mindset isn’t about being positive all the time — it’s about embracing the process and being willing to learn from mistakes instead of seeing them as proof of failure. If there’s one drawback, it’s that some sections can feel repetitive, especially once the main concept is established. But even with that, the message is strong enough that the repetition helps reinforce it. Overall, Mindset is a powerful and eye-opening book that makes you more aware of your own habits and beliefs. If you want to improve how you approach challenges, goals, and personal growth, this is definitely a book worth reading.

Mindset is another book in the seemingly endless production line of self help Psychology books available. Amazon recommended it to me based on my past purchases, and I decided to give it a try. I can honestly say that this book was eye opening for me. It’s based on the premise that there are two mindsets present in all human beings: The Fixed Mindset and The Growth Mindset. People with the fixed mindset, according to the author, are people who would rather not challenge themselves because it may reveal to them any inadequacy or weakness in their skill level or knowledge base. Conversely, people who possess the growth mindset are people who, regardless if they fail, crave the opportunity to better themselves even if it means admitting that they do not know as much as they thought they did in a particular subject or discipline. The author also dispels the myth of intelligence and natural talent, bringing to light the evidence-based realization that intelligence can be nurtured and cultivated through study and constant, unremitting learning. One’s learning ability, or intelligence, much like the brain itself, is indeed malleable. Fascinating stuff. By the way, another book in the same vein as this one is “Talent is Overrated” by Geoff Colvin. I may have reviewed it a year or two ago – I will have to check the archives of my blog. Halfway through the book I realized that I possessed traits and elements from both the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. I’m a lifelong learner, there’s no question about that. I’m ridiculed by most of my peers and friends for always reading and trying to learn more, but it’s who I am and who I've always been, unbeknownst to some. That being said, however, I can remember many times in my life when I was afraid to challenge myself because I felt like it would reveal weaknesses in my knowledge or skill. When I was younger, I used to abhor criticism; I felt like if someone criticized me it was a direct attack on who I was, so I’d respond by becoming defensive. Granted, most people will criticize you just to make themselves feel better or to put you down because they see you’re actually trying to do something; but if someone is more skilled than you are in something and he or she offers some constructive criticism, you should pay attention because that’s an invaluable tool for growth. I've learned that over the years without question. When I first started studying Karate (I was probably 11 or 12 years old), I was so full of passion for it. I used to go to my classes with a zest and zeal that rivaled the most enthusiastic of students, but I quickly realized, even though I thought I was a natural, that I had a lot of work to do before I could even consider myself a real student of the martial arts. At first I refused to accept that I wasn't as strong or as fast as I thought I was. I was stuck in the fixed mindset. I knew I was good at throwing kicks and punches because I taught myself how to fight. I didn't want to hear anything anyone else had to say. Eventually I learned the hard way that I would have to acquiesce to the instruction of my teachers, but the fixed mindset plagued me for many more years. It wasn't until I met my Jujitsu instructor about 5-6 years ago that I finally broke the fixed mindset outlook when it came to the martial arts. I was put on my back, painfully, over and over again by my instructor and learned, seemingly for the first time, about “emptying my cup” as the saying goes. I had to unlearn about 15 years of martial arts training and absorb, as a beginner, the teachings of my Jujitsu instructor. Let’s just say ice became my best friend. My fixed mindset even found its way into my guitar studies. I was always a decent guitar player, I guess, but I didn't start growing as a guitarist until I met someone who shattered my view of my skill level while working at my last job. This guy was the most skilled guitarist I had ever met, and I was humbled by his expertise. I’m still no way near his level of guitar playing, but because of the little time I spent with him I am a much better guitarist than before I met him. It was after meeting this person that I decided to start playing with people who were substantially better than I was. I sought out guitarists all over the place and asked to learn from them. I’d walk around Union Square in the city listening to the other musicians; I'd pay real attention to what they were playing and how they were playing it. I’d walk up to a few guitarists who I thought played beautifully and pick their brains. Some were eager to teach and some didn't want to be bothered. All in all, I became good friends with two of the guitarists I met. They still reach out to me and teach me technique and theory, and, when I can, I continue my own independent music study. Growth mindset in action. I've been sending a lot of my short fiction to professional, established writer friends of mine so that they can criticize and guide me in the hopes that I can be a better writer. A few weeks ago I sent one of my short stories to a writer I work with, and I asked him to be brutal. He read my story and sent me some feedback. I felt like when I was a little kid in school and one of my teachers gave me back one of my writing assignments adorned with her red markings. "Redundant!" "Comma here!" "Be more concise!" "Verb-subject agreement!" Good times. Anyway, my colleague gave me some useful advice and I immediately incorporated his suggestions into some of the stories I've already written. Consequently, I have also asked my uncle, who is an award-winning apologetics writer, to advise me and critique my writing. He’s been generous with his time and constructive with his advice. I will keep badgering him with grammar and syntax questions until he disowns me. It’s a price I’m willing to pay. So, back to the book. There is a lot of truth in this book, and I’m probably going to read it again soon. At the end of the book there is a chart that outlines the fixed mindset pathway of thinking versus the growth mindset pathway of thinking. It briefly outlines what someone with each mindset would do, or how they would think, given a circumstance. I have printed this chart out and I keep it hanging on my wall in my room so that I can look at it every day. I still have some fixed mindset elements that seem to permeate my thinking, but I’m more cognizant about them now. I’m working toward becoming a fully growth mindset focused person. I’m a work in progress, like most people, so bear with me. There are a lot of case studies of some great people in this book – Famous athletes, Actors, Politicians, Musicians, Teachers, Coaches – and each case study lends more credence to the author’s message: The Growth Mindset will help you achieve whatever it is you want to achieve. It’s a great book, and I recommend it to anyone struggling with honing his or her skills in anything. The author discusses how the fixed mindset and growth mindset is evident in every facet of life. Whether it is in parenting – how some parents instill a belief in their children that they are geniuses, and these children refuse to grow because they think there is no more growing to be done – or in our professional lives - how to learn from and adapt to unethical and dishonest colleagues (something I live with).

This book, Mindset, by Carol Dweck, has been thoroughly enjoyed by this reader! I have not yet finished it, as I am among three other titles that I bounce among depending upon my mood. Also, this is easy for me as I own a Kindle. I just read, and captured in a Word document, a short chapter in the book entitled, “Corporate Training: Are Managers Born or Made?”. For me, this chapter alone was worth the purchase of the book. This chapter describes a workshop in which managers are presented with concepts and strategies that are growth-mindset oriented. Suppose managers in a workshop did these things: a) reach an understanding of why it’s important that people can develop their abilities, b) identify areas where they once had LOW ability but now perform well, c) write a struggling protégé about how his or her abilities can be developed, and d) recall times they have seen people learn to do things they never thought these people could do. And in each case, they would reflect upon why and how change takes place! The description of the workshop process above, coupled with two suggestions by the author, offer both direction and hope for future organizational leaders. The first suggestion generally was to employ/seek out people who have a growth mindset and a passion for learning. The other brilliant suggestion was making a growth-mindset workshop the first step in any major training program! I have worked in a corporate training environment and in the management development area as an internal consultant, content developer, facilitator of workshops dealing with leadership development, coaching, team leadership, team development, change, personal development (MBTI), communications, motivation, conflict, process improvement, customer service, quality, etc. I witnessed first-hand managers who were not open to learning, to growth; they were stuck in default modes. Many sorted folks out into winner/loser categories that most often became self-fulfilling. I think Dweck’s suggestion to expose these “types” to a growth-mindset workshop could be the catalyst for a real learning change (if we could restrict the use of digital communications devices during the sessions!) I am a bit put-out, displeased at the reviewers who disparaged this book, in one case saying it was of no value beyond the first chapter. To those reviewers I say: I am convinced to the contrary! I am looking for what the book is: it is a valuable resource which offers hope to those in leadership positions trying to improve their own authentic performance and the performance of those they LEAD (not manage). Leaders see the potentials of their people, then provide the direction, support, and feedback that required for individual/team success on task/mission. The book has been a most informative, fun read! I enjoyed reading about the growth mindset of athletes like Michael Jordan. There are MANY positive takeaways from the book, and I think most future readers will find the book very beneficial.

Make it happen! There are 8 months until the Winter Olympics that will begin Feb. 7th, 2014. Now is a good time to coach your children about the meaning of "success", "champion" and the "agony of defeat." Throughout the games we'll hear inspirational stories about athletes that work hard, meet challenges head on, and learn from past mistakes. "Mindset"appears to be a classic within teaching and psychology circles. This easy-to-read book, will guide you in coaching your children to have a growth mindset, rather than a fixed mindset, that will help them achieve success, jump over hurdles, and think like a champion. In order to benefit from "Mindset", you're going to first have to take a cold, hard look at your parenting skills. Have you ever said or thought, "My child is a natural athlete, or artist, or genious"? Shockingly, Dweck's research shows that such statements can provoke a fixed mindset, harming motivation and performance because of the implication that failure means you're not talented or you're dumb. She notes "...one thing leads to another - how a belief that your qualities are carved in stone leads to a host of thoughts and actions and how a belief that you can cultivate your qualities leads to a host of different thoughts and actions, taking you down an entirely different road." Dweck doesn't stop with just one or two convicting examples. She assails you with an onslaught of examples, one after another, to prove her point. Her illustrations cover everything from sports, to school, to business. She builds a strong case that certain "natural" athletes, such as John McEnroe, demonstrated a fixed mindset that prevented them from facing failure with grace and fortitude. McEnroe was notorious for tantrums on the court when he was near defeat. And, he gushed excuses for every setback-hardly what anyone would call a "good sport". A fixed mindset also explains why the obsession in hiring "talent", by execs such as Lay and Skilling, of ethically-challenged Enron, resulted in the downfall of an entire conglomerate. At critical decision points they "blamed others, covered mistakes, and pumped up stock prices...". Whereas athletes such as Michal Jordan and Pete Sampras and business leaders such as Jack Welch, accomplished GE CEO, all had growth mindsets, shown by the way they overcame difficulties, worked hard, and championed to great success. Their egos were always in check, which kept them in touch with reality and their humanity. Time and again, Dweck demonstrates that skills and achievement come from commitment and effort, not from natural smarts or physical attributes. Over and over, Dweck emphasizes the growth mindset that is notable in champions such as Wilma Rudolph, First American woman Runner to win three gold medals at a single Olympics. According to Wilma, "My mom taught me very early to believe I could achieve any accomplishment I wanted to. The first was to walk without braces." This growth mindset belief, instilled by her mother, cultivated Wilma's ability to walk. Her step-by-step determination and discipline, catapulted Wilma, at age 12, to defeat paralysis in her leg, shed the brace, become a champion and work her way towards becoming an Olympian. But what can you do if you're a fixed-mindset-pushing-for-over-a-decade parent? Dweck explains that everyone can teach and encourage a growth mindset. In fact, with training, Dweck says that success can be achieved in all facets of life, including education, sports, relationships, and careers. Dweck gives a number of practical exercises to help anyone train others in her methodology and work through to growth-minded solutions. From these models, instead of saying "you're a genious", you'll learn to say "see what you can achieve when you work hard". Dweck makes it clear that her paradigm does not include preferences and that change is not easy. She says that, in relationships, individuals "have to actually want to change, commit to change and take action to change." She concedes that maintaining a growth mindset "takes plenty of time, effort, and mutual support." Before the Olympics begin, make-up your mind to read "Mindset", and start training your children to grow their minds and go for the gold... Make it happen!

This is an outstanding book that offers a powerful model of how to think about learning and growing. Your beliefs about the human qualities of intelligence, social skills, likability, adaptability, etc., will determine how you evaluate situations and then respond to those situations. If you believe that these qualities are fixed, like traits, you will develop a personal style that guards and protects this precious quantity while secretly worrying that you might have not been given enough of this endowment to make you above average, special. Conversely, believing that people are given different endowments at birth but with effort, practice, and diligence you can accomplish goals that initially seemed impossible by growing and developing your capabilities you are not deterred by a fear of failure. The central idea is this: are you a 'learner' - someone who thrives and looks for challenges believing that over time difficult situations become easier and that not following your dreams because you're afraid you might fail is the most unfortunate choice a person can make in their life or are you a 'non-learner' - someone who seeks success & validation, feels good when praised and preoccupied with being competent but secretly wishing you would take a big risk, accept a new challenge, or embrace going in a new direction with your life. If this seems interesting to you please get this book. It's worth your time to see if this book can help you. Authors must confront the challenge of deciding which audience they wish to address with their book. With this book, Mindset, the author has a long and established academic career so she is attempting to present her ideas to a more general audience. If you think the book lacks a more academic treatment of the subject a simple search on Google scholar will provide many academic articles with a more systemic approach to the subject. You don't become a tenured Prof. at Columbia and then Stanford unless you are a prolific publisher of novel research in top journals. The book does often repeat ideas that were already addressed earlier in the book. This is instructive and necessary. The main idea of the book seems straight forward but it is subtly complex. Reintroducing the ideas allows the reader to get the finer details in different settings. While the model might seem simple and the description of the two mindsets easy to understand it is considerably more complicated and some may wish to resist seeing themselves as different that who they think they really are. This offers the reader many examples in different settings so that a clearer understanding can develop. Also, change is hard. You are literally rewiring your brain. You are consciously avoiding indulging old thought patterns to forge new neuronal connections. The old patterns will not disappear, you create the option of choosing a different path which will become more ingrained with greater use. It is encouraging to read about others who have made significant changes in their life. Even if you find that you have a growth mindset you are likely to still have some fixed tendencies and you will surely have to deal with others that have fixed mindsets so this book is for everyone.

Loved how the book gave detailed and relatable stories on people overcoming the their changes to a growth mindset. I also liked the roadmap at the end on how to change your mindset.

Mindset was highly recommended by a good friend of mine. Unfortunately, I was disappointed in the book. Not by how it is written... it is pretty well written and contains lots of short stories to make the message of the author concrete. Yet, the message feels a bit simplistic to me, a bit too black/white and that same message was repeated over and over again. "Mindset" suggests that there are two types of mindsets: a fixed one and a growth mindset. For most people, one of these mindsets is the strongest and it will influence how they see their life and how they react to events. Fixed mindset people believe that people are the way they are and won't change. Therefore failure will be seen as an failure of themselves and react defensively. People with a growth mindset believe people change and learn and failure will be seen as an opportunity for improving... The book contains 8 chapters. Some are pretty good, some are, in my opinion, rather poor. The first three chapters sort-of contain the basic message, the introduction of the mindsets and how they change the meaning of failure and effort. It also talks about how these mindsets get created in the environment of people, which is one of the most interesting aspects of the book. One of the most insightful parts of the book relate to the effect of praising children and how that can have a negative effect. I'd recommend everyone to read the first three chapters and then perhaps stop or switch to the last chapter. Chapter 4 to 6 contain examples and effects of the two mindsets in three different environments: 4) sports, 5) business, and 6) relationships. These chapters mainly contain stories which the author uses to contrast the two mindsets to each other and to show how people act and react differently based on the different mindsets. I had trouble getting through these chapters, wasn't impressed with them. The last two chapters are kind-of interesting again. Chapter 7 talks about the mindsets to parents, teachers and coaches and how they create one of the two mindsets on their students and children. The last chapter in the typical "action" chapter of a book which gives tips on how you can change your mindset (from a fixed to a growth mindset). I found the book interesting, yet simplistic. It simplifies the world into two categories: 1) fixed, and 2) growth. (I kept wondering why there aren't more, such as 3) Not care). Then it continues the simplification by basically stating that fixed is bad and growth is good. So therefore, people who want to be successful need to change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. This (simplistic) view does make the book very powerful and lets the main message come through strongly (which is probably why it had gotten excellent ratings), it did annoy me at times. In conclusion. The book is easy to read and written pretty well. The message is kind-of important (people need to keep growing and improving). Yet, the book didn't impress me and at times annoyed me. Therefore, I'll only stick to three stars. Sometimes recommended.

This without a question is one of the most important books of the 21st century. I searched for so many years in trying to understand what made me tick. I read the most important books and listened to the most important guru’s. I went and got coaching and was consulted with the very best. I would ask why is it, that nothing seems to work for me. They all had the supposed solution, they all had the authority and I would think, what you say makes since but yet why would that be the truth - and why does it not move me? I do not see the link. Then a friend, gave me a link to a Carol Dweck seminar and I was blown away. Here is what I had been looking for. Could it be that simple? Most of what plagues us in the 21st century can be found in the powerful premise of this insightful book. It is a book of solutions based on what went wrong for the most promising individuals of the modern age. Our solutions are currently lost in the most gifted individuals as they made a decision to give up, as effort was not necessary. I understand now and how I wish I would have found this inspirational book years before. Powerful. I do not know, yet but I will venture to say that the works of Carol Dweck will finally transform my life into what I had always expected. I use to say that the universe would let me know when my time came. You see I suppressed who I was and I knew this and I agreed to the fact. I believed that the time would come when my truths would be needed and that would be my time. But decided that something was wrong or at least I said what if the universe does not let me know in time. What if my beliefs are wrong. This sent me on a search and still the answers I found where questionable. I have to admit thank goodness Carol Dweck finally was there. You gave me the answers I was trying to discover. These are facts that I spent 20 years trying to decode. Thank you for the support you have given to those who were awaiting a response and for those who realized they better keep looking for the truth. How could I become the individual I was meant to be. I guess the promises of our past can come true. My efforts provide me with the greatest reward. As Nike says, "Just Do It"