How to use your abilities to the fullest

Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck has spent many years researching two types of human thinking - the "fixed" mindset and the "growth mindset." As a result of her research, she wrote the book "The New Psychology of Success." In it, the psychologist talks about the power of faith in oneself, its great significance and the changes that are taking place in life.

Two kinds of thinking

Fixed thinking implies that our character, intelligence and creativity are static, given to us by nature. Success depends on how our natural data fit with the standards established in society. When a person with a fixed mindset strives for success and wants to avoid failure at all costs, in this way he maintains the opinion of himself as smart and experienced.

The growth mindset is not afraid of problems, and sees failure not as proof of stupidity and failure, but as a springboard for growth and new opportunities. The type of thinking that a person develops from early childhood determines his career, relationships and, ultimately, the ability to be happy.

The belief that intelligence and personality traits can develop, rather than remain static, prompted Dweck to conduct a global study in which both adults and children participated.

She writes:

Over the 20 years I have conducted my research, it has emerged that the vision of yourself you choose has a direct impact on the way you spend your life. If you believe that you have a static level of intelligence, one character for life and one unchanging personality, you will exhibit the same qualities over and over again.

Objectives and methods

People with a fixed mindset achieve goals to prove themselves who they really are, and they do it in any area: in school, at work, in relationships. Each situation gives rise to a question in them: "Who am I - a winner or a loser?", "Do I look smart or stupid?" It is as if you are playing poker and you have bad cards and you are trying to convince others and yourself that they are good.

But there is another way of thinking, in which all your qualities are not perceived as something unchanging, something with which you will have to live your whole life. People with such a mindset are convinced that a person's real potential cannot be measured, and it is not known what will happen if you invest years of work, passion and training in your favorite business.

A fixed mindset strives for self-affirmation, and a growth mindset for learning.

People with such a mindset not only don’t get upset in case of mistakes and defeat, they don’t see themselves in such situations at all. There is no defeat for them, there is only training.

The difference in any area

Dweck found out in practice that people with a fixed mindset and a growth mindset really think and act differently, since the very meaning of efforts and the essence of self-assessment change. In a world of fixed thinking, success proves that you are smart and talented. In a growth mindset, success is about learning new things, exploring yourself and your capabilities.

Thinking in childhood

The foundations of thinking are laid at a very early age. Dweck experimented with children who were presented with easy or difficult puzzles. Some children, who already have a fixed mindset, chose easy ones and solved them over and over again to feel that they are smart and do everything right. Children with a growth mindset did not understand why they were interested in collecting the same easy puzzles, because the most important thing for them was development and new knowledge. All this is carried over into adulthood, when a person does the same job over and over again, not wanting to see anything new.

Absorption of information

There is also a difference in the very absorption of information. When Dweck studied brain waves in a laboratory in Columbia, people with different minds had completely different results.

Fixed-minded people were only interested in feedback from their answers, not in the information itself. If they gave the wrong answer, they weren't interested in the right one, they didn't even really listen to it. People with a growth mindset have always listened to the right answers, they were interested in learning, in expanding the boundaries of their knowledge.

Conclusion

So why waste time proving that you are good when you can really get better at this time? Why hide your shortcomings from others when you can work on them? Why look for friends and partners who will serve you for your self-affirmation when you can find those to help you grow?

And why choose tried and true ways when you can get new experiences? A passion for something new, especially when things are going well, is a hallmark of the growth mindset. And it helps people feel good even in the worst of times.

How to develop a growth mindset? Re-prioritize, believe that your original data is not a set of cards with which you have to bluff and recoup, but a deep well filled with treasures. You just need to be able to get them.

And as a conclusion, an infographic on how the two types of thinking differ. It can be used as a practical guide in the question: "What to change in your thinking?"