I just picked up Carol Dweck’s Mindset and I’m already—just 70 pages in!—grappling with its implications on my life.
While I was already familiar with the basic distinction between “fixed mindset” and “growth mindset,” it became apparent that I’d never actually thought about them. I knew the concepts but I didn’t understand them.
I see now—alarmingly—that I have a serious fixed mindset about many things. What things, exactly?
- Making new friends
- Playing video games
- Math and sciences
- Being handy around the house
- Photography
- Managing others
I could go on, of course—but it’s worth observing that even as I have a fixed mindset about certain things, I have a growth mindset about others:
- Playing guitar
- Writing
- Parenting
- Baking
- Reading
It’s fascinating to consider the ways in which I have justified these different mindsets to myself: I’m too old to learn that now. I was never good at math. I’ll never be a good mentor. I don’t have a knack for tinkering with things.
Once I start, the negative flow is hard to stop. I hardly had to try to come up with the negative thoughts above! That ease of thought is a clue—a clue as to my hidden fixed mindset about those abilities (or lack thereof).
Taylor Coe 