Mindset: how does your mindset influence your success?

If I ask you what a person’s success depends on, what would your answer be? Maybe you tell me that it depends on his talent, his intelligence or the education he has received. You may consider that the best starting point for success is to have good opportunities. However, beyond all this, the key seems to lie in the mentality.

Certainly, it sounds naive to think that “can whoever believes he can“. However, Carol S. Dweck, a doctor and researcher in developmental psychology, has reached clear conclusions in this regard. her book, Mindset: The attitude of success explores how beliefs powerfully influence our performance. Thus, today we will address the interesting proposals of this best seller.

How does your mindset influence your success?

Mindset is the set of beliefs we have about how the world and ourselves work. Based on them, we direct our behavior. Thus, what we hold to be true leads us to act in one way or another, something that ultimately determines our results.

Dweck reached the above conclusion. He did so after observing a group of four-year-old children who were faced with the following choice: solve a simple puzzle or try to complete a more difficult one. Already at such a young age he was able to divide the children into two groups: Some children chose the easy task while others accepted the more complex challenge.. But why?

The truth is that The distinction between both groups of children was not in their abilities, but in their mentality., in their basic beliefs. Thus, he differentiated two concepts that largely determine our development and success: fixed mindset and growth mindset.

Fixed mindset

People with a fixed mindset are those who consider, consciously or unconsciously, that intelligence is immovable.. That each of us is born with a degree of intellect, with talents or qualities that are stable and impossible to modify. Under this premise, they maintain a very specific behavior:

They tend to constantly try to validate themselves, trying to appear intelligent and qualified. They avoid challenges at all costs, since failure would imply a lack of ability. They appear defensive when obstacles appear and quickly abandon those tasks that challenge them. Trying hard is something useless and failing unacceptable, they demand infallibility. Both the success of others and constructive criticism are threatening to them.

Growth Mindset

For his part, People with a growth mindset think that abilities and talents can be developed with work and personal effort. They understand that each of us has a starting point but that what is really determining is what we do with it. Thus, they show the following attitudes and behaviors:

They are enthusiastic about learning, grow and expand themselves. They accept challenges and grow in the face of them, because they see them as an opportunity to improve. They see failure as part of the path and far from sinking in the face of obstacles, they persevere. They do not see effort as a sign of lack of ability, but as the path to mastery. They learn from constructive criticism and are inspired by the success of others.

Reach your full potential

In short, the attitudes associated with each type of mentality determine the development that an individual is capable of achieving. Thus, those in the first group (based on their innate qualities) can grow quickly, but stagnate. On the contrary, according to his thesis, Those in the second group (using effort and perseverance) continue to grow until they develop their full potential.

This would not only manifest itself at an academic level, but also in one’s work career, in social relationships and in any area of ​​life. Those who have a growth mindset overcome obstacles, learn from mistakes and redirect their course, expand and reach their best version. The fixed mindset leads you to establish yourself at a certain level that you will never surpass for fear of failure, for paralyzing you in the face of challenges and for limiting yourself by thinking that you are what you are and there is nothing more.

So, even though the type of mentality we have is part of our personality, it is in our hands to change it. Stop praising yourself and measuring your worth by your qualities and start congratulating yourself on your effort, resilience and perseverance. Sometimes failure allows us to reach our full potential.

You might be interested…