Book Review: Mindset: Changing the Way You Think to Fulfil Your Potential

Author- Dr Carlos S.Dweck

Pages-  264

Genre- Non-Fiction

There are two main mindsets we can navigate life with: growth and fixed. Having a growth mindset is essential for success. In this post, we explore how to develop the right mindset for improving your intelligence.

                                                                                                             

-Carlos Dweck

Carol Dweck is an American psychologist. Dweck is known for her work on motivation and mindset. According to Dweck, individuals can be placed on a continuum according to their  views of where ability comes from. 

If you are someone who wants to change the way they perceive the world around them, think differently like never before and give yourself a chance of growth then this book is for you. 

She explains everything with multiple case studies that will not let you put down the book even for a minute. The small stories are so engaging that some of you might relate while most of you will learn a lesson in each one of them. ( I have never felt this urge to keep reading specially when it is nonfiction)

What actually is Mindset?

Mindset is essentially a deep dive into Carol Dweck’s concept of Growth Mindset. Mindset is basically the self-perception a person has about themselves. In layman terms what do you think of yourself when faced with day to day situations, communication or menial tasks.The book covers the strategies for fostering growth mindset in- businesses, parenting, school and relationships. This makes the book more flexible for various age groups over a wide range of audience.

What will you choose if you were given an option between Life filled with challenges or Life of validation and success?

What is a Growth Mindset?

As you might guess, the book starts by explaining what a growth mindset is and contrasting it with a fixed mindset. There are a few components, but in essence the growth mindset is something that makes one more malleable to growth. This isn’t to  explain that you can change in nearly every realm.

Those with the growth mindset, thrive in challenges. They are the ones who believe that  effort dictates results, and are more likely to work harder. With a fixed mindset, individuals are likely to see traits and situations as unchangeable.

 People with a growth mindset see value in effort. 

Value growth itself, and continue striving to accomplish goals even if they aren;’t immediately successful. It is not just about valuing work, but valuing work as a means of developing skills and abilities.

In the above questions a fixed mindset person will choose success and validations even if it is for a short period of time. Whereas a person with a growth mindset will choose challenges.

What can a fixed mindset do?

Having an idea that you are a certain way and you cannot change can bring a slew of negative interactions. For instance if you ask to learn a new language for a subject and you are asked to narrate a line in that language. 

People with a fixed mindset will feel people seeing them and their confidence will shatter. However those with growth mindsets will take this as an opportunity to learn and make as many mistakes.

Fixed mindset people believe that failing once means that you are not capable enough and that is a character trait and it cannot be changed.

Dr Carlos also discusses how a fixed mindset can be harmful for business.It causes individuals to feel the need to prove themselves, no matter the cost. Often, this creates short-term thinking that tanks the business. It causes individuals to feel the need to prove themselves, no matter the cost. Often this short term thinking tanks the businesses.

Mindset also spends a decent amount of time discussing how mindsets affect relationships. In romantic relationships, fixed mindsets cause a short-circuiting of effort. Either we were meant for each other or not, effort means it is not right. A growth mindset, on the other hand, believes couples are meant to work through problems as a part of growing the relationships.

Even if a relationship doesn’t work out, the growth mindset is useful because it shows an opportunity to grow. The fixed mindset on the other hand, says you may not be worthy, and that you can’t grow into a proper relationship.

Mindset includes a number of ideas for fostering a growth mindset both in yourself and others. It questions your menial thought pattern and allows you to figure out “Am I actually like this? Do I need to improve to help grow my relationships?” By simply remembering the concepts,we can often shift to a more useful way of thinking.

Written By Navya