Fixed vs Growth Mindset

Yesterday I wrote about open minds and I had added a link to Carol Dweck’s blog on Mindsets.  She has written a book (also found on that page) which researches how brains function.  The good news is that a person can alter their way of thinking.  And now you may be asking “why should I alter my way of thinking?”

Dweck found in her research that those who had a “fixed mindset” felt they needed to prove themselves over and over again.  Happily one can alter their mindset by first of all recognizing what type of mindset they currently has and then taking steps to change. 

I know that the majority of people are influenced by their parents’ thinking which is perfectly normal.  However, as one matures it is incumbent on thoughtful persons to question their beliefs and examine why they believe what they do.  As I observed many years ago, thinking can be painful and most people would sooner stick a needle in their eye than think about thinking.  But think about this for one minute --- why is the world in the shape that it is in?  My answer --- because too many people are on auto pilot not only in their daily lives but when they go to vote they have no true understanding of what they are actually voting for.  Using politics as an example of fixed mindset, if you vote for a party that gets the majority of their funding from corporations you ought to know that they now are under obligation to listen to what those corporations lobby for.  And what do they lobby for?  Lower corporate taxes, less “entitlements” for the people, corporate “welfare” for themselves and so on and so forth.  Nothing that is good for you.  Think about it – yes, think about it seriously.

(Politics was used here as an example only but there are many areas in which a person may simply be stuck without reflection).

John Maxwell’s workbook “Jumpstart your Thinking” is an amazing tool to get you motivated to think.

“For the flower to blossom you need the right soil as well as the right seed.  The same is true to cultivate good thinking.”  William Bernbach