Mindset : The New Psychology of Success pdfdrive com

Defining Moments
Even  in  the  growth  mindset,  failure  can  be  a  painful  experience.  But  it  doesn’t
define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.
Jim Marshall, former defensive player for the Minnesota Vikings, relates what
could easily have made him into a failure. In a game against the San Francisco
49ers, Marshall spotted the football on the ground. He scooped it up and ran for
a touchdown as the crowd cheered. But he ran the wrong way. He scored for the
wrong team and on national television.
It was the most devastating moment of his life. The shame was overpowering.
But  during  halftime,  he  thought,  “If  you  make  a  mistake,  you  got  to  make  it
right. I realized I had a choice. I could sit in my misery or I could do something
about it.” Pulling himself together for the second half, he played some of his best

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football ever and contributed to his team’s victory.
Nor did he stop there. He spoke to groups. He answered letters that poured in
from  people  who  finally  had  the  courage  to  admit  their  own  shameful
experiences.  He  heightened  his  concentration  during  games.  Instead  of  letting
the  experience  define  him,  he  took  control  of  it.  He  used  it  to  become  a  better
player and, he believes, a better person.
In  the  fixed  mindset,  however,  the  loss  of  one’s  self  to  failure  can  be  a
permanent,  haunting  trauma.  Bernard  Loiseau  was  one  of  the  top  chefs  in  the
world. Only a handful of restaurants in all of France receive the supreme rating
of  three  stars  from  the  Guide  Michelin,  the  most  respected  restaurant  guide  in
Europe.  His  was  one  of  them.  Around  the  publication  of  the  2003  Guide
Michelin,  however,  Mr.  Loiseau  committed  suicide.  He  had  lost  two  points  in
another  guide,  going  from  a  nineteen  (out  of  twenty)  to  a  seventeen  in  the
GaultMillau. And there were rampant rumors that he would lose one of his three
stars  in  the  new  Guide.  Although  he  did  not,  the  idea  of  failure  had  possessed
him.
Loiseau had been a pioneer. He was one of the first to advance the “nouvelle
cuisine,”  trading  the  traditional  butter  and  cream  sauces  of  French  cooking  for
the  brighter  flavors  of  the  foods  themselves.  A  man  of  tremendous  energy,  he
was also an entrepreneur. Besides his three-star restaurant in Burgundy, he had
created three eateries in Paris, numerous cookbooks, and a line of frozen foods.
“I’m  like  Yves  Saint  Laurent,”  he  told  people.  “I  do  both  haute  couture  and
ready-to-wear.”
A man of such talent and originality could easily have planned for a satisfying
future, with or without the two points or the third star. In fact, the director of the
GaultMillau said it was unimaginable that their rating could have taken his life.
But  in  the  fixed  mindset,  it  is  imaginable.  Their  lower  rating  gave  him  a  new
definition of himself: Failure. Has-been.
It’s striking what counts as failure in the fixed mindset. So, on a lighter note…