A while ago I came accross an article titled 'the right mindset for success' which was a transcript of an interview with Carol Dwek, a Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. According to Dwek, people can be differentiated according to their views of where ability comes from. Those with a 'fixed' mindset believe their basic abilities, intelligence and talents are just fixed traits, whereas those with a 'growth' mindset understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, teaching and persistence.
Most people are not aware of their own mindset, but it is especially evident in their reaction to failure. Fixed mindset individuals dread failure because it is a negative statement on their basic abilities, while growth mindset individuals don't mind or fear failure because they realise their performance can be improved and learning comes from failure. According to Dwek, an individual's mindset impacts how they face and cope with challenges and can play an important role in all aspects of life. Dwek argues that the growth mindset will allow a person to live a less stressful and more successful life.
In the book 'How To Win' Dr Rob Yeung suggests that most people have parts of both the fixed and growth mindset, rather than believing that all attributes are 100% innate or trainable. His view is that your current beliefs are only a starting point and that you can shift your mindset by understanding it.
A mindset is an established set of attitudes that predetermine a person's responses to and interpretations of situations. It is not just confined to a fixed or growth mindset but can also relate to other views such as whether you have a positive or negative image of yourself and others, whether you view people as friendly or unfriendly, or whether you view the world is welcoming or hostile.
It's important to note that although your mindset can influence your personality, it's not part of it and is based on beliefs that are changeable. It's worth spending some time thinking about the mindset you have as it can distort your perceptions of events and can greatly influence your behaviour.
You can challenge your mindset and decide which thoughts are constructive and which are destructive and choose the right mindset to approach life.
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