Book Review: Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D

This article was originally posted on WellnessWorksNW.com on 9/23/2024. In June I was inspired to join a week long group called Weakless Week hosted by Jason Seib. During this week where Seib inspired the group to get comfortable with being uncomfortable in order to give up junk food for good and commit to exercise forever because that is how we love ourself, he mentioned this self help book, Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D. He felt that this book would help us understand the value of knowing the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset and teaching us to work towards living with a growth mindset. A Fixed or Growth Mindset can be seen in Business Leadership, Home, in Parenting and in Personal Relationships. A fixed mindset is a belief that your qualities (talents, aptitudes, interests, temperament, morals) are set in stone and can’t be changed. People with fixed mindsets are usually wrong about their abilities because they don’t know what they are capable of. A growth mindset is a belief that our basic qualities (intelligence, personality, character) are things we can cultivate through our efforts, strategies and help from others. People that are growth oriented are open to learning, they believe they can develop themselves. Growth mindset seeks challenge and they tend to thrive even in failure. In learning, failure, to a fixed mindset person can be a traumatic setback, but for a growth mindset person it can be a perfect opportunity to grow and become better at productivity. The belief is that are not a failure as long as you are learning from your mistakes and taking ownership. If you are blaming someone else the process of learning is over. Blaming is a trait of a fixed mindset learner. Fixed mindset people with depression tend to shut down because when you measure yourself by failure you lose coping resources. Growth mindset people with depression tend to try harder and be determined to keep going as well a they can because they believe their abilities can be expanded. In their opinion, a fixed mindset person doesn’t need to ask for help because losing is not an option. They can’t handle losing. Asking for help is a sign of weakness. The idea of deficiencies is terrifying to them. A fixed mindset person relies on natural talent and they believe they don’t need to overcome challenges. Fixed mindset is ego driven and believes you are either somebody or nobody. Talent is needed to get you to the top but character is needed to keep you there.

Growth Mindset Beliefs:

• overcoming shortfalls is exciting
• practice makes perfect
• using your personal strengths to overcome shortfalls is key
• ordinary people can do extraordinary things with the right amount of effort and training
• can talk themselves from losing to winning based on their past strengths
• focuses on self-development, self-motivation and responsibility

Fixed Mindset in love

• The ideal is instant, perfect and perpetual compatibility
• Couples will agree on everything
• Problems indicate character flaws that can’t be fixed
• After rejection feels judged, bitter and vengeful

Growth Mindset in Love

• All things can be developed
• Communication happens, nothing is assumed
• Problems can possibly be fixed
• After rejection feels hurt, hopeful, forgiving, learning and moves on

Parenting

In parenting with a fixed versus growth mindset is important to consider situations and expectations. With children complimenting intelligence or speed might stunt their willingness to try hard things. Not being honest with constructive criticism might lead to wrongful blame. Encouraging hard work in weak areas and acknowledging hard work already done will build confidence. Remember learning is a process. Don’t judge. Teach. Success can knock you into a fixed mindset that tells you that you won because you have talent – not that you have to fight every time to win. Parents that respond to mistakes as opportunities to learn, pass on a growth mindset.

The Journey from fixed to growth mindset

1. Embrace that we all have some fixed mindset traits.
2. Become aware of triggers (Mine is competition)
3. Give your fixed mindset personality a name (Mine is Stormie)
4. Educate your fixed mindset. Be supportive of its roll but let it know we are going to try this anyway and communicate as well as we can with those around us.
5. Daily consider growth opportunities for myself and for others around me.

Fixed mindset people often have an internal monologue that is focused on judging. Where a growth mindset person is often thinking about what they can learning from an experience, how can they improve, how can I help my partner do this better? Life is about the journey. Some days we do better than others and that is ok but keep moving forward. Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D was a very helpful book to read and I got a lot out of it that I can relate to many parts of my life. I think it is a good nonfiction book for anyone to read that wants to sharpen their personal development skills. I got this book from my personal collection you can get your own copy of Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D on Amazon.

Read My Review on GoodReads:

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck My rating: 4 of 5 stars Mindset is often the reason we are successful and in Mindset The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck, Ph. D, Dweck talks about the difference between fixed and growth mindsets and how they make a difference in the outcomes of our lives. A Fixed Mindset is the belief that our talents, aptitudes, interests, temperament, morals are set and can’t be changed. A Growth Mindset is the belief that our intelligence, personality, character can be developed through education and practice. Most people have a mixture of both types of mindsets throughout their life but the book illustrates that the Growth Mindset is the goal as it has the greater room for possibility. View all my reviews

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• Learning About Generalized Anxiety Disorder
• What is Spiritual Health and Why is it Important?

I hope this article helps Fuel Your Wellness. Please leave your comments below.

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Summer D Clemenson is a co-owner Clemenson Enterprises, LLC and Wellness Works NW. Summer her wife, Karen G Clemenson’s personal motto is Creativity, Honesty & Positivity are a must! This mantra helps them stay community and wellness minded in all they do. Summer is an Independent Wellness Advocate at dōTERRA. Summer also writes poetry and inspirational blogs @ GoodTimesAlways.com.

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Feel free to leave your comments below!

My name is Summer. That is how you can call me. I hope that I am a blessing to you. I am not perfect. I will fall again. But I am forgiven. For anyone reading this that isn’t a Christian, unapologetically, I am a Christian, but I believe there is room for lots of beliefs and religions in the world. It is not my intent to offend people with different beliefs than I have and I would be open to open-minded conversations with no goals of changing anyone’s mind, but sharing information. If you are interested in becoming a Christian…Do you know Jesus? Do want the Holy Spirit to fill you and give you understanding and salvation? Ask Him. Want someone to pray with you? Contact me.

If you would like to know Jesus as your friend, but want to make this amazing commitment by yourself please pray something like this: Thank you Jesus that You are the Son of God, the God that created heaven and earth. Thank you Jesus that You came to earth in the form of a man so that You would be able to empathize with my humanity. Thank You that You did this in order to fulfill the promises You made at the foundation of the world. I realize that I am a sinner and do things that hurt myself and keep myself away from you. Thank You that You died for my sins so that You could defeat death and bring me into Your life. Please forgive me. I ask You to be Lord of my life. I ask you to heal my hurts and show me what my new life, empowered by You looks like. Thank You for Your mercy.