Personal growth begins in the mind (DW#374)
What do you believe about your ability to grow and progress in your life?
Do you believe that you can and must grow in every area of your life? Or do you believe that you are born with a certain set of talents and abilities that are fixed?
Do you think or say things like "I am too old to change" or "That’s just the way I am" or "Some people are just born that way" or "I could never do that"?
Do you believe that the reason that some people are smarter or more successful than you is because they have "what it takes" in their area of success and you don’t?
Science is telling us that the way we think about our ability to grow (or not) has a major impact on all areas of our lives.
Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. is one of the leading researchers in the field of motivation and is a renowned Professor at Stanford University. In her recent and highly acclaimed book, Mindset, she employs rigorous science to help us understand why we do what we do.
She explains the difference between a ‘growth mindset’ and a ‘fixed mindset’, why it matters what kind of mindset we have and how we can move from one to the other.
For the next few days, let us explore this concept in greater depth.
For myself, I am beginning to realize that I have a growth mindset in the area of learning and a fixed mindset when it comes to accounting and numbers. I have been telling myself things like "I don’t have a head for numbers" and that "I am not good at accounts and never will be".
What about you? Can you think of areas in your life where you have a fixed mindset as opposed to a growth mindset? Do you recognize how it is stopping you from progressing?
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