What do you think is the key to achieving your goals?
Hardwork? Focus? Perseverence?
It turns out none of these. Research shows that these are all by products of something else. Something we can all develop. A mindset for success.
But before we consider what that skill is, let’s look at an error of human thinking.
The common mistake often made is that we believe we have a fixed level of skill or ability – something we might even describe as being born with.
Josh Waitzkin, American chess player and onetime child prodigy, describes it as:
“The moment we believe that success is determined by an ingrained level of ability.”
Have you ever said to yourself?
- I’m rubbish at maths, singing, dancing, painting… (or anything you feel you’re no good at).
Or conversely?
- I’ve always been good at sport, solving problems… (or anything you feel you’re good at).
Well, I’m sure you realise we shouldn’t fill our heads with negativity, but what’s the problem with seeing ourselves as excellent at something?
The key trap, the belief that we have ‘an ingrained level of ability’ can take two forms:
- Believing we are something special, smarter than other people, gifted in a certain area and subsequently don’t have to work hard at what is perceived of as an innate talent.
- Believing we can’t do something, that somehow we’ve never been able to do it and however hard we try we will never be able to, so it’s just not worth bothering.
If we stop and think about it, both of these assertions are slightly ludicrous. As a child you didn’t say “well I tried walking and it was really hard so I’ll never be able to do it!” or “I came out of the womb brilliant at playing football.” No, these are all talents and skills we have developed. We may have more of a propensity for certain things but never the less we still have to work at their development.
Carol Dweck on the mindset for success
Carol S. Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University, describes this belief as a fixed mindset.
“In a fixed mindset students believe their basic abilities, their intelligence, their talents, are just fixed traits. They have a certain amount and that’s that, and then their goal becomes to look smart all the time and never look dumb.” (Source: Interview 19th June 2012 OneDublin.org)
But other people see their skills differently, as qualities that can be developed – a growth mindset.
“In a growth mindset students understand that their talents and abilities can be developed through effort, good teaching and persistence. They don’t necessarily think everyone’s the same or anyone can be Einstein, but they believe everyone can get smarter if they work at it.”
Dweck found these two mindsets lead to very different behaviours and results.
- In one study, students with a growth mindset increased their grades over time, whereas those with a fixed mindset did not.
- Other studies have shown similar effects for our mindset on other abilities like problem solving, playing sports and even managing people.
The difference between these two groups, is a different perspective on intelligence with the key to success not simply being effort, focus or resilience but the growth mindset that creates them.
The mindset in itself is crucial.
If we are to fulfil our potential then we have to start thinking with a growth mindset and believe we are not chained to our current capabilities.
Famous examples of a growth mindset
Many people who have gone on to achieve fame and success in their field, know the value of a growth mindset for success in life.
In fact many of these were themselves dismissed as failures:
“You care for nothing but shooting dogs and catching rat and you will be nothing but a disgrace to yourself and all of your family.” – The father of Charles Darwin on his son
Lucille Ball’s drama teachers once told her “she had no future as a performer.” But she proved them wrong and went on to write: “One of the things I learned the hard way was that it doesn’t pay to get discouraged.”
Michael Jordan was dropped from the high school basketball team, after which he went home, locked himself in his room and cried. But that didn’t stop him going on to achieving basketball super stardom.
And Walt Disney was fired from a newspaper because he lacked imagination and had no original ideas.
Did they give up? Of course not. It was a process towards their ultimate success.
How can science inform our understanding of mindset?
It turns out that there are physiological manifestations to mindset, which can be measured in the brain.
A fixed mindset brain
Brain scans show that for people with a fixed mindset the brain becomes most active when receiving information about how the person performs – such as a grade or a score. In other words people with a fixed mindset worry most about how they are judged.
With a fixed mindset effort can be seen as a bad thing; only people with low capabilities need to work hard at overcoming it through effort. And when they receive setback or failure, those with a fixed mindset tend to conclude they’re incapable and will seek to protect their ego by losing interest or withdrawing from an activity.
This is often seen as a lack of motivation, but behind it there’s a fixed mindset.
The growth mindset brain
People with a growth mindset focus on learning and their brain becomes most active when receiving information about what they could do better next time.
Growth mindset people see effort as a path to success – the way to grow. It was Thomas Edison who reminded us that: “Genius is 99% perspiration and 1% inspiration” and that setbacks are part of growth. As he put it:
“I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.” Thomas Edison – Inventor of the light bulb.
A key characteristic of a person with a growth mindset is that when they hit a problem, they find a way round it.
You can hear Carol Dweck talk about it here (approx 1 minute).
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3 ways to develop your own growth mindset
Most of us have fixed mindsets about some things, but we can change that.
Here are three things you can do to instil a growth mindset for success:
- Adopt a growth mindset. Recognise that the growth mindset is not only beneficial but recognised by science. Neuroscience shows that the brain changes and becomes more capable when we work hard to improve ourselves.
- Learn how to grow. Learn about how to develop your abilities, learn about deliberate practice and what makes for effective effort. When we understand how to develop our abilities we strengthen our conviction that we are in charge of those abilities.
- Listen and modify your inner voice. Listen for your fixed mindset voice and when you hear it, talk back with a growth mindset voice. If you hear yourself say: I can’t do it – add yet to the sentence.“I can’t do that, yet!”
With a growth mindset you have the ability to fulfil your potential, and the changes you want from life will be yours for the taking.
What have you caught yourself saying you can’t do? Mine’s dancing! Let us know in the comments below.