Growth and fixed mindsets

Our beliefs make a profound difference how we respond to challenges. Stanford researcher Carol Dweck found that people tend to respond to challenges with one of two distinct mindsets. She labeled these mindsets ‘growth’ and ‘fixed’.

After a loss, a person with a growth mindset thinks, “I have something to learn.” They set out to learn what needs to be changed, and move forward.

A person with a fixed mindset reacts to loss or failure by thinking, ‘I am a failure.’ The mindset, I am a failure, dooms any effort to change. 

Dweck points out that these mindsets are only beliefs. And beliefs can be changed.