counters and find them at zero. It made me insecure not to be able to tote up my victories.
Even worse, since I was taking more risks, I might look back over the day and see all the
mistakes and setbacks. And feel miserable.
What’s more, it’s not as though the fixed mindset wants to leave gracefully. If the fixed
mindset has been controlling your internal monologue, it can say some pretty strong things to
you when it sees those counters at zero: “You’re nothing.” It can make you want to rush right out
and rack up some high numbers. The fixed mindset once offered you refuge from that very
feeling, and it offers it to you again.
Don’t take it.
Then there’s the concern that you won’t be yourself anymore. It may feel as though the
fixed mindset gave you your ambition, your edge, your individuality. Maybe you fear you’ll
become a bland cog in the wheel just like everyone else. Ordinary.
But opening yourself up to growth makes you more yourself, not less. The
growth-oriented scientists, artists, athletes, and CEOs we’ve looked at were far from humanoids
going through the motions. They were people in the full flower of their individuality and
potency.
TAKING THE FIRST STEP: A WORKSHOP FOR YOU
The rest of the book is pretty much about you. It’s a mindset workshop in which I ask
you to venture with me into a series of dilemmas. In each case, you’ll first see the fixed-mindset
reactions, and then work through to a growth-mindset solution.
The First Dilemma. Imagine you’ve applied to graduate school. You applied to just one
place because it was the school you had your heart set on. And you were confident you’d be
accepted since many people considered your work in your field to be original and exciting. But
you were rejected.
The Fixed-Mindset Reaction. At first you tell yourself that it was extremely competitive,
so it doesn’t really reflect on you. They probably had more first-rate applicants than they could
accept. Then the voice in your head starts in. It tells you that you’re fooling yourself,
rationalizing. It tells you that the admissions committee found your work mediocre. After a
while, you tell yourself it’s probably true. The work is probably ordinary, pedestrian, and they’d
seen that. They were experts. The verdict is in and you’re not worthy.
With some effort you talk yourself back into your first, reasonable, and more flattering
conclusion, and you feel better. In the fixed mindset (and in most cognitive therapies), that’s the
end of it. You’ve regained your self-esteem, so the job is finished. But in the growth mindset,
that’s just the first step. All you’ve done is talk to yourself. Now comes the learning and
self-improvement part.
The Growth-Mindset Step. Think about your goal and think about what you could do to
stay on track toward achieving it. What steps could you take to help yourself succeed? What
information could you gather?
Well, maybe you could apply to more schools next time. Or maybe, in the meantime, you
could gather more information about what makes a good application: What are they looking for?
What experiences do they value? You could seek out those experiences before the next
application.
Since this is a true story, I know what step the rejected applicant took. She was given
some strong growth-mindset advice and, a few days later, she called the school. When she
located the relevant person and told him the situation, she said, “I don’t want to dispute your
decision. I just want to know, if I decide to apply again in the future, how I can improve my
wang
(Wang)
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