Which Mindset Do You Have?

I was smugly confident as I strolled in Dr. Alison Belzer's office with my first college paper in hand. "Dr. Belzer, can you please look at my paper?" I sincerely asked. Ten minutes later, and with much indelible red ink scarring my paper's surface, I emerged utterly humiliated. My pride was replaced with a realization that my writing ability needed drastic improvement.

How did I respond? I chose to accept her criticisms by omitting any egregious grammatical error, rewording awkward sentences, and highlighting the key points of my paper more clearly. Not everyone would have done what I did. The reason is found in the mindset of an individual.

Carol Dweck, a professor of psychology at Standford University and the author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, argues that there are two basic mindsets people display: a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. A person with a growth mindset believes that no matter what kind of a person you are, you can always change, while a person with a fixed mindset assumes that nothing significant about a person can change for the better.

Thus, the reason I was able to improve my appalling paper was that I exhibited a growth mindset. Do you also display this mindset? Or are you guilty for uttering the following phrases: "You're just so smart" or "you are a natural" or "he is simply a genius"? All of us, no doubt, have committed this error, assuming a person's presentation is a consequence of raw talent. However, we need to reject this easy temptation and applaud the efforts of our friends and coworkers, instead of concluding that every demonstration of excellence is a result of natural ability.


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