Mindset – by Carol Dweck
Date read: 11/25/19. Recommendation: 8/10.

This is a foundational book that I wish I would have read in college or at the start of my career. Dweck’s lessons in cultivating a growth mindset can be heard in passing on dozens of podcasts and seen referenced in countless other books. But this is the source. As she discusses a fixed vs. growth mindset, the biggest difference is revealed not when things are going well but when coping with failure. In a fixed mindset, failure is any type of setback. In a growth mindset, failure is not growing. A growth mindset is about building resilience and belief in change. Your skills and abilities can be developed. This allows you to embrace and enjoy the process that is learning, rather than seeking immediate gratification or giving up. The earlier you’re able to read this, the better it will help shift your outlook. But there’s something for those at every walk of life—Dweck discusses how these concepts apply in parenting, business, school, and relationships.

See my notes below or Amazon for details and reviews.

My Notes:

Growth Mindset:
“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of a growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.” CD

Growth mindset allows you to convert life’s setbacks into future successes.

By cultivating a growth mindset you can begin building perseverance and resilience.

“The growth mindset is based on the belief in change.” CD

Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets:
The biggest difference is revealed not when things are going well but when coping with failure. Fixed mindset immediately goes into a victim mindset, obsessing over externals. Growth mindset focuses on a sense of ownership and identifying variables within your control. 

“Becoming is better than being. The fixed mindset does not allow people the luxury of becoming. They have to already be.” CD

What is Failure?
Fixed mindset: failure = setbacks.
Growth mindset: failure = not growing. 

“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures…I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.” Benjamin Barber

With a growth mindset, failure can still be painful. But it doesn’t define you. It’s an opportunity to learn and grow. 

Validation:
In a growth mindset, the rewarding part is the process—the learning and growth as an individual. External recognition (awards, money, etc.) is always nice, but it’s not sought as a validation of self worth. Those with a true growth mindset possess a Stoic indifference to the winds of fortune. 

Students:
Fixed mindset while studying is all about memorization. Growth mindset is about looking for themes and underlying principles. 

Judgment:
A fixed mindset often reveals itself through a judged-and-be-judged framework. A growth mindset is the shift to a learn-and-help-learn framework. The commitment in the latter is to growth which takes time, effort, and mutual support.