Title: MINDSET – The New Psychology of Success. How we can learn to fulfill our potential.

Author/About the Author: Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. Carol S. Dweck (born October 17, 1946) is the Lewis and Virginia Eaton Professor of Psychology at Stanford University. She is best known for her work in psychology, social psychology, and developmental psychology and on the mindset psychological trait. She taught at Columbia University, Harvard University, and the University of Illinois before joining the Stanford University faculty in 2004.
Publisher: Ballantine Books, New York Pub Date: 2006, 2016 Pages: 320 Edition: Updated ISBN: 978-0-345-47232-8

Life Area(s): Mindset                       Primary Life Navigation Tool(s): Self-Awareness & Mindfulness

What’s it about?

We all have a set of assumptions, beliefs, and attitudes about life. We have a way of looking at and thinking about the world and all the things that affect us in some way. Part of this world view can be described as mindsets. This book is about the two basic mindsets – fixed and growth.

The fixed mindset says your abilities, talents, and intelligence are pretty much fixed. That these aspects of who you are cannot be changed much. Popeye the sailor had a famous fixed mindset saying – “I yam what I yam and dats all what I yam.”

The growth mindset says you can change all of these things for the better through effort and persistence. If Popeye had a growth mindset maybe he could have been the Master and Commander of his life instead of being stuck proving how strong he was over and over and over again.

The right mindset will help you adapt, persevere, and be resilient. The wrong mindset will keep you stuck and miserable. The way you lead your life and the quality of your life will depend largely on the mindset you hold through life.

The main points:

1. Intelligence can be grown, cultivated, and improved.
2. With a fixed mindset you are always out to prove yourself right, and with a growth mindset you are always out to learn more.
3. With a growth mindset you can become an exceptional person. Without it, you are doomed to stagnant mediocrity.
4. The right mindset will help you adapt, persevere, and be resilient. The wrong mindset will keep you stuck and miserable.
5. The way you lead your life and the quality of your life will depend largely on the mindset you hold through life.

Short excerpt or quote from the book:

“Believing that your qualities are carved in stone – the fixed mindset – creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character – well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics.” From page 6.

What I especially like:

This is very practical. It’s about how to make sense about what’s going on your mind and how to apply in everyday living.

What I don’t particularly like:

I would like even more practical tips on how to implement a growth mindset for myself practical guidelines and lessons on how to put it into practice. How will it help you?

This information will help you…

1. Cope with failure. Turn failure into a gift. See failure as learning.
2. Cultivate intellectual skills. Know that you have more capacity for lifelong learning and intellectual development and they ever thought.
3. Improve your ability to navigate difficult times in your life.

Is it worth reading and why?

Yes. It is absolutely worth reading. I can change the way you think about things that happen and your ability to manage those events. This is an essential life navigation tool.