The Power of Growth: Does Your Mindset Limit or Liberate?
We all face challenges in life. Do you believe your abilities are fixed, or can you cultivate talents with effort?
Good evening everyone. I am Tom Niklas, a seasoned writer and reviewer. Welcome everyone to the Tom’s ReadVault, please subscribe me and join us in reading 100 books a year together.
Today, I am honored to share with you my thoughts and takeaways from the bestselling book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” by Dr. Carol Dweck. This insightful book elucidates the dichotomy between fixed and growth mindsets, allowing us to understand the merits of adopting a growth mentality in life. Perusing this illuminating work has proven tremendously edifying, and I hope to impart some of these profound realizations so that they may enlighten you as well.
The author first introduces a cardinal tenet: growth itself is a virtue. She recounts an anecdote: in an experiment, a 10-year-old child rubs his hands in excitement when faced with a challenge, exclaiming “I love a challenge!” Another child, covered in sweat but eyes bright, avows “This is so inspiring!” I found myself strongly identifying with the divergent reactions of the two children.
It dawned on me that when confronted with difficulties and failures, trepidation and dejection are unnecessary; we can derive enjoyment, garner experience, and harness the drive for ceaseless improvement. This epiphany prompted the author to further investigate the discrepancies in people’s mindsets when challenged.
The author distills these dichotomous mindsets into “fixed” and “growth”. Those with a fixed mindset believe one’s abilities are innate and predetermined. Hence, they dread failure, which would expose their inadequacies. As a child I performed poorly in math, convinced myself I was innumerate, and thus avoided studying math, fearing repeated failure. In contrast, those with a growth mindset believe one’s capabilities are not innate but can be cultivated through effort. I eventually grasped this truth, recognized math skills could be honed through practice, and slowly transitioned from a fixed to growth mentality regarding math, no longer shrinking from challenges.
The divergence between fixed and growth mindsets profoundly impacts all aspects of one’s life. In education, children with fixed mindsets fear acquiring new knowledge and skills, anxious they cannot assimilate and fail. I remember in primary school the teacher wanted me to learn jump rope. Deeming myself uncoordinated, I refused practice, ashamed at the prospect of failure. Children with growth mindsets do not dread failure; willing to learn new skills despite exposing deficiencies. My young niece is not the greatest public speaker but bravely enters school speech competitions. Though stammering nervously on stage, she remains undaunted, resolving to intensify speech practice.
In the workplace, companies overly focused on hiring brilliant talent foster arrogant cultures, ultimately blundering into bankruptcy. Enron exemplifies this: prizing genius hires engendered a hubristic, failure-denying ethos, eventually trying to conceal problems and imploding. Conversely, GE CEO Jack Welch highly valued employee growth, enabling subordinate feedback and proposals, fully tapping each worker’s potential, ballooning GE’s value to $490 billion. Jack personifies the growth mindset business leader.
Growth mindsets also matter in family relationships. Those with growth mentalities see their partners as evolving individuals; together they face and surmount problems, catalyzing mutual growth. The same applies to friendships; true camaraderie is grounded in mutual respect and advancement. Fixed mindset parents overly praise their children’s natural gifts, breeding an intense fear of failure. Growth mindset parents emphasize the process of trying, encouraging children to confront challenges.
Therefore, I believe we should embrace and uphold growth mentalities in life. This requires:
- first, recognizing our brains and abilities can be cultivated through effort;
- second, finding intrinsic motivations for growth rather than comparing;
- third, when facing failures and setbacks, maintaining optimism rather than despairing;
- and fourth, helping others adopt growth mindsets and making collective progress.
Dear friends, life’s road is beset with pitfalls; we will inevitably stumble and scrape our knees. But I sincerely hope “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” illuminates our inner journeys, steeling us to face every challenge with a growth mentality. Thank you for listening!
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