Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.

Finding #1: Those with the growth mindset found success in doing their best, in learning and improving. And this is exactly what we find in the champions.

Next time you feel low, put yourself in a growth mindset—think about learning, challenge, confronting obstacles. Think about effort as a positive, constructive force, not as a big drag.

The fixed mindset makes you concerned with how you’ll be judged; the growth mindset makes you concerned with improving.

In Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Dr. Carol Dweck calls these mind-sets the “fixed” and “growth” theories of intelligence. If you have a “fixed” mind-set, challenges are a commentary on your worth as a person— you’ve been tried and found wanting, which makes trying new things feel threatening. If you have a “growth” mind-set, challenges ar