Why You’ll Never Achieve your Dreams
Your fixed mindset will never let you get to where you want to be
Why Most People Will Stay Mediocre
It’s easy to dream. We do it almost every day, sometimes too much.
How many of those dreams do we strive to fulfill? We all wish for a bigger salary, a better car, and a more satisfying and content relationship — but do we ever make consistent efforts to move toward those goals? Sometimes we do. We begin making efforts in the right direction, a genuine attempt to improve an aspect of our life — perhaps we finally see a ray of hope that our life might change for the better. But when we face hardships, struggles, and failures, we eventually quit and believe we aren’t good enough.
But why?
We never really give ourselves room to ask why we aren’t good enough — we accept it wholeheartedly, without doubt, and without question. And that’s precisely why most of us will never be able to unleash our full potential. The power of belief is often underestimated, but those who have ever tasted the scent of success know what it feels like to have an unimaginably high sense of self-worth.
What’s stopping us, then, from becoming the best of ourselves?
Fixed and Growth Mindsets
In her book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck states that there are two mindsets that we use to navigate through life. People with a fixed mindset often believe that their abilities and the extent to which they can be improved are static and that they’re hard-wired to be either good or bad at those activities. People with this mindset usually have a strong internal sense that they can’t develop certain skills or can never get better at them. It is certain, then, that those with this kind of mindset often struggle when facing failure. This may further reinforce the belief that their inability in that domain will cause them to reduce their efforts — a vicious cycle.
In stark contrast, those with a growth mindset firmly believe that any ability or skill can be developed and improved with effort and practice. They see failure as a lack of effort rather than viewing it as a part of their identity. Take an example of a college undergrad who scores a C in Math and looks at the difference between the two mindsets. A person with a fixed mindset might think, “I got a C in Math. I’ve always been horrible at this subject. I can’t get better. Math is just something I can’t do.”
Can you guess what a person with a growth mindset might think? It would be like, “I got a C in Math this time. Maybe I didn’t prepare enough for the exam. If I put in more effort next time, I should be able to get a better grade.”
Notice how in the second self-assessment, the person doesn’t attribute his failure to his own identity or a characteristic, which is a vital difference.
Dweck showed in her study of seventh-grade students that their grades improved drastically when they were taught the growth mindset. These findings, however, are not just limited to high-school students. Our fixed mindsets limit us every single day without us noticing. Think of all the times you may have thought:
“It’s too late to start learning the guitar; I’m too old.”
“I know I’m not gonna get any better at this. I might as well stop trying rather than screwing it up every time.”
Your Fixed Mindset is Stopping You
A growth mindset is a powerful fuel for inspiration and motivation. It allows you to go beyond your imagined limits and take you to heights you could never have anticipated. This is precisely why adopting the growth mindset is undeniably essential for success.
The human brain is one of the finest pieces of natural engineering in the world; the only limits to it are the ones we set. The first step to unlocking your unexplored potential is transforming all the ‘can’t be’ in your life into ‘can’s. You can get better at investing. You can ace the interview for the job you so desperately need. It may sound rather silly or obvious, but simply reaffirming your true, limitless abilities can do wonders for your career and your life.
Making your dreams come true is certainly in your hands — but the only question is whether you have the right mindset.
Thanks for reading
Neh Joshi
