What is Your Mindset : Boon or Doom

The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. — Dr. Carol Susan Dweck

Cheenu was an intelligent student. She was the achiever in her school and graduation. Later ,she joined a big firm. But, she was troubled getting good promotions there, because she thinks she was a scholar in her studies and has intelligence as an innate characteristic . She does not believe in learning all through life, but believes in enjoying life while working and earning money.

Olive was an average student while studying, but getting good promotions at work., as she focus on skill development and continuous learning.

In the above anecdote there are two people Cheenu and Olive. Cheenu has the fixed thought that her intelligence is innate, whereas Olive believes in continuous learning for skill enhancement. The belief and opinions that they hold shows their mindset.

According to the American Psychological Association Mindset is a state of mind that influences how people think about and then enact their goal-directed activities in ways that may systematically promote or interfere with optimal functioning.

TYPES OF MINDSET

There are two types of mindset

Attributes of FIXED MINDSET

Innate IQ : They believe that talent and intelligence are fixed.

Resist to change : Avoid challenges and see failure as the end of the world

Inertia : Don’t believe in putting efforts and practice as they think talent is innate

Guilt : Has the tendency to give up easily, they view temporary setbacks as the permanent failure

Observation : They mostly get jealous on the success of others

Feedback : They take feedback positively and try to improve on their weak areas.

Attributes of GROWTH MINDSET

Developed IQ → They believe that talent and intelligence can be developed

Motivation : Determine FAILURE as the feedback rather than a doom

Open to learning : Believe in practice and putting efforts for the mastery

Acceptance : they perceive failures as temporary setbacks and keep on working hard

Observation — they view other successes as inspiration

Feedback — they avoid taking feedback and ignores constructive criticism

CHECK YOUR MINDSET

Now, after learning about types of mindset and their attributes.

Why not assess your mindset ?

Dr. Carol Susan Dweck assessment quiz will help you dive in more and know your mindset

Instructions : Mindset Quiz has 10 questions ,

(1)Read the questions at your pace

(2) Select the option which suits you

(3) Score is displayed accordingly for the option you selected

(4) Attempt all 10 questions and keep on adding scores

(5) Total the scores

(6) Check on which range you fall and see your result

(7) You can select only one option in each question

Famous Personalities who achieve success because of there Growth Mindset

Thomas Edison : We all know the famous inventor of the incandescent electric light bulb.

He failed 10,000 times, but instead of labelling it as failures. His growth mindset labelled it as ways

“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”

J.K Rowling — J.K Rowling was rejected 12 times by mighty publishers, before Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s stone was accepted. What gives her the strength to keep on learning from her setbacks, it’s her mindset

“It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all — in which case, you fail by default.”

― J.K. Rowling

Walt Disney → Walt Disney , the father of animation turned down 302 times before getting funding for creating Disneyland.

Ways to Develop Growth Mindset

Here, are five effective ways to develop growth mindset

The Power of “Yet” — Adding the word “yet” can make the feelings, thoughts and behaviors more optimistic. For example, instead of saying “I am not good at public speaking”, say to yourself “I am not good at public speaking yet”. And keep on putting efforts in learning public speaking till you say “I am good at public speaking”

Ask yourself — there are numerous examples of great businessmen who failed multiple times, but instead of panicking, they ask themselves, what needs to change to get success.

Take Feedback — if you are going through any setback or thinking yourself as a loser, it’s always better to take counselling from a subject expert or a counsellor to stabilize your feelings and thoughts.

Learn about Brain plasticity- Our brain has the ability to change and adapt as a result of experience. So, learning can increase our cognitive abilities and can change the mindset

Celebrate the success of others — Make a habit of celebrating the success of people around you. Connect with them to understand what actions they took and how they approached the challenge to get there.

Your mindset can make you a hero or a zero. It's in our hand to choose happiness over despair, to be the architects of our own destiny.

References

Dweck, C. S. (2000). Self theories: Their role in motivation, personality, and development. New York, NY: Taylor & Francis Group.

Dweck, C. S. (2012). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Constable & Robinson Limited.