Issue #32: Fixed or Growth Mindset?
Learn about how your mindset can impact your success and happiness
Dear mental health advocate,
Another two weeks have flown by, so it is time for another free edition of The Present Psychologist Paper. In this issue I will discuss the power of having a particular mindset. Although many of you might already guess it, but the way you perceive your abilities and potential has a huge impact on actually being successful. Glass half empty or half full? Read below about the comparison between a growth and a fixed mindset!
This Year’s Archive 📂
Whether you are new to The Present Psychologist Paper or not, I’d like to let you know that on this platform I send out biweekly editions with articles about psychology and mental health. Every other week I send out a free version, but also a paid version. The free one consists of one article, the paid one has two extra. If you are interested, I have a 20% discount both for the monthly and yearly subscription.
Instead of $5.50 a month or $55 a year you can now subscribe for $4.40 a month or $44 a year! The price of a cheap takeaway coffee each month, cancellable when you want and you would support me as a freelancer to keep the content going as well as improve your own mental health.
If you subscribe, you will also get access to the complete archive of all the previous editions and bonus content. Here you can see all these older issues:
The Present Psychologist Paper Premium Editions
Advice Columns
Bonus Content
Comparing a Fixed and a Growth Mindset
I remember well going on holiday a few years ago and spending some time at the airport waiting for my flight. I walked into a bookstore looking for a good read. My eyes fell on a book by Stanford professor Carol Dweck called ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’ which seemed interesting, so I decided to buy it. I was very pleasantly surprised by the content and it actually felt like finding the missing piece that I needed then. It helped me understand my own upbringing and mindset I was presented with when I was younger. Of course, a mindset is not just handed to you, your personality, experiences and own attitude play an important role too. Nevertheless, it was as if I was gazing into a mirror, showing me how my perspective on life caused me trouble.
I hear you thinking. What is your mindset then? And what does it mean to have either a growth or a fixed mindset? Well, I am going to deep dive into this for sure. But before I do, I want to let you think for a second. How do you approach challenges? Do you feel like the outcome is already set in stone based on who you are and what you can do? Is a challenge something you enjoy, or does it give you anxiety? Our attitudes towards our skills, talent and intelligence play a major role in our mindset. And that is exactly what Carol Dweck researched in young students, discovering two separate perspectives and categorizing them in either a fixed or a growth mindset. Let’s find out what this actually means…
What do these two mindsets mean, exactly?
Carol Dweck wanted to know how students and young children dealt with challenges and obstacles when learning something new or when doing a test in school. She found that there were two different approaches the children applied to such situations. For example, she measured their reaction when they received a low grade for an exam. One group of students clearly mentioned they won’t study harder for their next exam. They all said things like: ‘Why should I? Apparently I am not smart enough’ or ‘It’s useless, I always fail’. The other group mentioned quite the opposite, as they wanted to study even harder for their next exam! Their motivation became clear through these statements: ‘I want to learn from my mistakes’ or ‘I know I can do this’.
The main distinction Carol Dweck saw here and quickly realized was that students had a certain perspective considering their intelligence and skills. One group seemed to think that your intelligence is set in stone and you either can do something or not. Talent was the most important trait to them, which would indicate success. If they failed, they tried to compare themselves to people who flunked even more. The other group had another thought process, thinking that as long as you work hard or try enough you can do anything. Failure motivated them, while for the other group it actually made them give up. Dweck named one approach a ‘fixed mindset’ and the other a ‘growth mindset’.
Fixed Mindset
Intelligence is a fixed trait
Wants to be considered smart
Tries to avoid enormous challenges
Gives up when there are many obstacles
Putting in a lot of effort is useless
Not really open to criticism
Feels threatened by other people’s success
Growth Mindset
Intelligence can be trained
Wants to keep learning
Embraces challenges
Persists when obstacles arise
Knows putting in effort is needed
Is open to criticism
Inspired by other people’s success
While a fixed mindset seems to be a more ‘negative’ mindset, it is important to understand that in many families or surroundings this is presented as a fact and how the world works. Think about stereotypes such as ‘girls are worse at math’ or 'people saying ‘you are not a smart kid’. This reinforces low confidence and adds to developing a fixed mindset. It can even work the other way around. For example, as a kid I was told often I was smart. While that might sound nice, it was not the case for me. I just thought I never had to work hard. Intelligence was a given, right? So I did not study much and failed at times, not getting high grades at all. It made me feel like an impostor (thinking: I am not smart…), trying to hide my failures instead of studying.
Want to know if you have a growth or a fixed mindset? A scorecard was created based on the book by Carol Dweck, you can find it here. Add the scores to each question and find out which one you have. Do you have a fixed mindset? Don’t worry, your brain CAN actually be trained. Trust me, it can work.
How can I change from a fixed to a growth mindset?
It is not easy, because your fixed mindset might say you can’t. But, it is possible. Guess what? It takes some work! The first step is that you need to be aware of it. Hope this article already helped you to some degree. Then, when a challenge arises think back to this. Our brain can be trained. Sure, talent exists. Some people are smarter than others. But this does not mean you cannot improve. Our brain can build new connections and learning pathways, so try and put in the work when you need to use a new skill. Think about famous people good at sports, they need to train a lot. Are you failing? Do it over and over and over again. Keep trying. Learn how the brain works. And last but not least, use positive self-talk. Tell yourself you can do it, be your own cheerleader. It can do wonders!
Build Your Own Online Mental Health Account!
Starting on social media can be very overwhelming. It takes a lot of time and is not always easy. Some people have reached out to me they want to start their own mental health account but do not have much hours left in a day to make infographics. Therefore, I have created a bundle of 50 templates built in Canva. If you are interested, click on the button below to get them with a discount.
Help me raise awareness 💌
My name is Alf Lokkertsen and I am a psychologist and writer, creating mental health content for you. My passion is to raise awareness about topics related to psychology, as it has helped me greatly in my personal life. I strongly believe that many problems could be avoided or dealt with better if everyone had some in-depth psychology knowledge.
Will you help me achieve my goal by spreading this newsletter? 5900 mental health advocates already have subscribed. Help me out by sharing this subscription link either within your network or mention/tag me on social media!
Not subscribed to The Present Psychologist Paper yet yourself? Please click the button below to ensure you will receive the next edition in your inbox:
If you have any questions, please comment here and I am happy to respond!