Mindset (The New Psychology of Success)

“I have always been deeply moved by outstanding achievement and saddened by wasted potential.”

After decades of researching achievement and success, Stanford University professor of Psychology and critically acclaimed author Carol Dweck found that individuals generally fall into two categories - fixed mindset and growth mindset.

Those with a fixed mindset believe that the traits they were born with are their keys to success. They spend more time looking smart than actually applying themselves and tend to rely on their natural talents to achieve success. People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that no matter what talents they were born with, there is always an opportunity for growth. These are the people who love to learn, who don’t let failure dictate the end of their attempts. These are the great leaders we all strive to become.

The best thing about the growth mindset is that it can be taught.

Applying the techniques from Mindset to a workplace, for instance, would cause a rise in employee satisfaction as well as encourage collaboration and a more committed work ethic. Taking the growth mindset approach into a classroom would lead students to be more open to new challenges, increase their motivation and raise their test scores.

From business to education and everything in between, we could all benefit from the ideas expressed in Carol Dweck’s best-selling paperback, Mindset.