Do you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset? I have been fascinated for a long time as to how come some people remain active and involved throughout life and others end up limiting themselves. Recently I have been reading about the groundbreaking ideas on mindset put forth by Dr. Carol Dweck a psychologist at Stanford University. This is what she found upon studying success and achievement:
1. The fixed mindset people believe that their basic qualities like intelligence and talent are fixed traits. They do not develop their intelligence and talents believing that just having them will assure success.
2. The growth mindset people believe that their basic abilities can be developed through hard work. They view intelligence and talent as being the starting point. They are willing to dedicate time and effort to developing their intelligence and talents.
I happen to believe that someone with a fixed mindset can develop a growth mindset when he/she finds a compelling reason to do so. I have been in the people-growing field all of my professional life and have seen over and over how people have been able to take leadership of their own lives. They have shifted their fixed mindset to a growth mindset. The reason for this shift was that they were not happy with how their life was going. They used this unhappiness as a launchpad to embark on the journey of growth. I have known people with a growth mindset who discovered that they could evolve their lives even more. The compelling reason for these mindset shifts has been a deep desire to feel happy, have meaningful relationships, and to make the most of ones abilities and talents.
