Mindset : The New Psychology of Success pdfdrive com

CHANGING MINDSETS
T
he growth mindset is based on the belief in change, and the most gratifying part
of my work is watching people change. Nothing is better than seeing people find
their way to things they value. This chapter is about kids and adults who found
their way to using their abilities. And about how all of us can do that.
THE NATURE OF CHANGE
I was in the middle of first grade when my family moved. Suddenly I was in a
new school. Everything was unfamiliar—the teacher, the students, and the work.
The work was what terrified me. The new class was way ahead of my old one, or
at least it seemed that way to me. They were writing letters I hadn’t learned to
write yet. And there was a way to do everything that everyone seemed to know
except me. So when the teacher said, “Class, put your name on your paper in the
right place,” I had no idea what she meant.
So I cried. Each day things came up that I didn’t know how to do. Each time, I
felt  lost  and  overwhelmed.  Why  didn’t  I  just  say  to  the  teacher,  “Mrs.  Kahn,  I
haven’t learned this yet. Could you show me how?”
Another  time  when  I  was  little,  my  parents  gave  me  money  to  go  to  the
movies with an adult and a group of kids. As I rounded the corner to the meeting
place, I looked down the block and saw them all leaving. But instead of running
after them and yelling, “Wait for me!” I stood frozen, clutching the coins in my
hand and watching them recede into the distance.
Why didn’t I try to stop them or catch up with them? Why did I accept defeat
before  I  had  tried  some  simple  tactics?  I  know  that  in  my  dreams  I  had  often
performed  magical  or  superhuman  feats  in  the  face  of  danger.  I  even  have  a
picture of myself in my self-made Superman cape. Why, in real life, couldn’t I

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do an ordinary thing like ask for help or call out for people to wait?
In  my  work,  I  see  lots  of  young  children  like  this—bright,  seemingly
resourceful children who are paralyzed by setbacks. In some of our studies, they
just have to take the simplest action to make things better. But they don’t. These
are the young children with the fixed mindset. When things go wrong, they feel
powerless and incapable.
Even now, when something goes wrong or when something promising seems
to  be  slipping  away,  I  still  have  a  passing  feeling  of  powerlessness.  Does  that
mean I haven’t changed?
No,  it  means  that  change  isn’t  like  surgery.  Even  when  you  change,  the  old
beliefs aren’t just removed like a worn-out hip or knee and replaced with better
ones. Instead, the new beliefs take their place alongside the old ones, and as they
become stronger, they give you a different way to think, feel, and act.