Mindset matters

Sometimes, particularly when we’re struggling through difficult times, the gap between where we are now and where we want to be seems impossibly large. It’s hard to imagine how we’ll ever bridge so large a gap. But the psychology of success tells a very different story. Often, it doesn’t take radical changes to transform your life. There are many small psychological shifts that can make a very big difference to your outcomes over time. Today I’m going to introduce you to one of these small psychological powerhouses.

Decades of research on success and achievement has clearly demonstrated that your “mindset” has a powerful influence on your life. This mindset is really about a set of core beliefs that influence your behaviour, your expectations, and your response to setbacks.

Fixed mindset
If you have a fixed mindset, then you believe that your qualities and abilities are carved in stone. You have a certain amount of talent, a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and so on... Since these qualities are fixed, the onus is on you to demonstrate your ability at every point. If you don’t, you assume that people will think you’re deficient in these important, fixed characteristics. As a consequence, you often feel the need to prove yourself and you worry about how other people will evaluate you. You may avoid risks because you fear negative feedback. You prefer to operate inside your zone of success, rather than pushing beyond it. You feel that life has dealt you a certain hand and now it’s your job to play that hand to the best of your ability.

Growth mindset
If you have a growth mindset, then you believe that your qualities and abilities are a starting point – that you can develop and improve, no matter where you’ve started from. This doesn’t mean that you think everyone’s a potential genius, only that you believe it’s impossible to know in advance what people can accomplish if they really apply themselves. This growth mindset fosters passion for learning and openness to new experiences. Afterall, what does it matter if you make mistakes? It’s all part of the process of living and growing. You’re attracted to experiences that stretch you outside your comfort zone, and you believe in the power of your own effort. You see yourself as a work in progress, and you feel that the hand life has dealt you is really only the beginning of the story. The rest of the story is up to you.

Consequences
A substantial body of research has shown that mindset has far-reaching consequences.

People with a fixed mindset typically feel the need to demonstrate their ability whenever there’s a possibility they’ll be evaluated. This causes them to avoid challenges because of the possibility that they might fail and fall in other people’s estimation. It also leads to defensiveness when obstacles are encountered, and a tendency to give up fairly easily. They tend to have a negative view of effort because they think that people who succeed due to effort are “try-hards” who had to work because they didn’t have sufficient aptitude. They typically respond badly to criticism, and feel threatened by other people’s success. People with a fixed mindset often fail to achieve their full potential.

People with a growth mindset believe that their abilities can be developed. As a result, they tend to embrace learning opportunities and challenges. They persist when they experience setbacks because they believe they can overcome adversity through personal effort. They view effort as a positive behaviour and a pathway to high achievement. Although they may feel stung by criticism, they maintain an open-minded attitude and try to learn from the feedback they receive. They feel inspired when other people succeed and this encourages them to aim higher in their own endeavours. People with a growth mindset often achieve much more than seemed possible when they first started out.

The implications of these consequences are significant. For instance, research shows that children who are labelled as “gifted” often suffer the consequences of fixed mindset thinking. They avoid taking intellectual risks out of fear that they’ll lose their gifted status, and they may even look down on peers who work hard to achieve. In doing so, they’re setting themselves up for a lifetime of underachievement. It’s not what we’re born with that causes us to succeed, it’s how fully we develop what we’ve got. And we only fully develop what we’ve got if we understand the extent to which our abilities can be influenced and improved.

Instead of praising children for some fixed characteristic bestowed upon them in the genetic lottery, it’s much more helpful to praise them for effort, for willingness to learn, and for persisting with difficult tasks. Encourage children to develop a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset. You’ll be doing them a very great favour.

And, while you’re at it, why not do the same for yourself? Today is as good a day as any to embrace a richer, more rewarding life.