I’m reading a book called Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck.  She talks about fixed and growth mindsets and it is so interesting.

If someone has a fixed mindset, they believe they were born as they will always be.  They might believe they are good at swimming and bad at math and it can’t be changed.  So if they fail at something, they feel it shows their weakness.  They don’t think, “I failed.”  They think, “I am a failure.”  People with a fixed mindset don’t believe you have to work at something you’re good at.  If you’re good at it, it should come easily to you.

If someone has a growth mindset, they believe that failure is a lesson that will help them improve.  They believe that anything is possible.  If they struggle with a subject or a skill, they understand that if they persevere and work hard, they will get better at it.  Grit is everything to them.

Carol S. Dweck writes, “People with growth mindset, however, believe something very different.  For them, even geniuses have to work hard for their achievements.  And what’s so heroic, they would say, about having a gift?  They may appreciate endowment, but they admire effort, for no matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns in into accomplishment.”

Often it’s not the most talented person but the person who refuses to give up, the person who continues to try, who reaches the top of the mountain.

And you can change your mindset.  You can look at things differently.  It’s your decision.  You have that power.

Author David Dokterman said, “If we only did things that were easy, we wouldn’t actually be learning anything.  We’d just be practicing things we already know.”

What can we do today to strengthen our skill set and grow?  What have we failed at and what lesson can we learn from it?  What is our mindset?

Here’s to trying something new, embracing failure and growing into the person we were meant to be.