aTypical Joe: a gay New Yorker living in the rural South

Monday, March 20, 2006

On Mindset

More from Dr. Moira Gunn’s Tech Nation podcast conversation with Dr. Carol Dweck, the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and author of Mindset—The New Psychology of Success. Here she defines Mindset: [clip]

Most people have one of two mindsets about their most basic qualities. Some people think their qualities like their intelligence or their personality are fixed traits, carved in stone, they have only a certain amount. Where as other people believe that’s silly, these are things you can develop and cultivate your whole life through.

And also it makes such a difference because when you have this fixed view, the fixed mindset, your whole life becomes about proving yourself, not making mistakes, shoring up your ego, looking smart, making sure you feel worthy instead of stretching and growing. When you have this growth mindset, life is about stretching and growing. You’re not afraid of stretching and growing, you’re not afraid that mistakes will measure you. You’re not afraid to go for it.

[How do we know which mindset we have?]

Answer these questions about intelligence. Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t really change. You can learn new things but you can’t change how smart you are. Do you agree with those statements or do you disagree? If you agree, that’s a fixed mindset. If you disagree, that’s a growth mindset.

[Can we change?]

You can literally change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. It’s interesting because it’s a fundamental belief that guides a lot of your life. But it’s just a belief and it can be changed.

SEE ALSO: On self-esteem.