Douglas Vigliotti

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The New Psychology of Success

DV Weekend Pickup #60

Mindset by Carol Dweck, Ph.D.

A tale of two mindsets - fixed vs growth - and more importantly what they mean to you and I.  We're all pretty sure mindset matters but are we totally convinced it's the single biggest thing.  Carol Dweck, Stanford University psychology professor does a remarkable job convincing us that whether you're a parent, teacher, coach, business leader, employee, it seemingly doesn't matter but possessing a GROWTH mindset is the only viable choice.

“Think about your hero. Do you think of this person as someone with extraordinary abilities who achieved with little effort? Now go find out the truth. Find out the tremendous effort that went into their accomplishment—and admire them more.”

Our society has praised natural ability and effortless accomplishments so much that we actual value it over achievement through effort.  There are so many problems with this type of thinking at a foundational level, I don't even know where to begin.  At the end of the day, if you're not valuing constant improvement, constant learning, and belief that skills can be developed then you're playing at a gigantic disadvantage.  The research does not isolate "fixed vs growth mindset" to one application, genre, vertical, etc as evident by the layout...

  1. The Mindsets
  2. Inside the Mindsets
  3. The Truth About Ability and Accomplishment
  4. Sports: The Mindset of a Champion
  5. Business: Mindset and Leadership
  6. Relationships: Mindsets in Love (or Not)
  7. Parents, Teachers, and Coaches: Where do mindsets come from?
  8. Changing Mindsets 

Since it's release in 2007 Mindset has become one of the benchmark non-fiction reads for our generation.  It has wide critical acclaim and comes on high recommendation from the iconic Bill Gates.  If you're struggling to get your head right, then I'd suggest picking this up.  As Dweck proclaims, "Genius is not enough; we need to get the job done."

Crush the day!

DV