do you think a dumb person has the potential to become a genius?
or do you think an introvert can turn into an extravert?
basically what I'm asking is
can people change or are their traits mostly fixed?
now you might say for example:
"sure. you can increase your IQ"
"but there is a limit"
you can't expect someone who's at the bottom of the class
to suddenly become the first in the state, right?
well, actually the true answer to these questions aren't that important here
what's more interesting is that these questions review an important aspect of yourself
whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset
a fixed mindset believes that a person's traits and personality a pretty much fixed
on the other hand
a growth mindset believes that
our traits can always be developed through practice and effort
no matter how hopeless it seems
of course
these two mindsets lie on a spectrum
but a growing amount research is showing us that
success it's pretty much impossible without the growth mindset
now how can something so small explains so much
well, people with the fix mindset are more scare of failure
since everything is fixed
to fail at one thing means to always be labeled to failure
as a result, they only do things which confirmed their skills and shy away from challenges
on the other hand
people with a growth mindset don't let failure bother them as much
instead
they view challenges as an opportunity to grow their skills
consequently as experiments have shown
subject who score high on measures have growth mindset are more open to learning
more willing to confront challenges
and stick longer difficult tasks
now these types of messages aren't new
in fact
the phrases above had become cliches in motivational speeches
but the difference is
now we can see the underlying factor that leads to all this
plus it's also backed by research
in one study
experimentists did intervention on this group african-american and Latino students
who are failing at school
these kids were told how the brain can form new nets
and grew when people learn new things
basically the message was
you can grow intelligence
and sure enough
while the control group continued to fall further and further behind
the students bucked the trend and started improving
now this stuff doesn't only apply to intelligence
the two mindsets can be applied to anything from your personality to your skill set
taking a look at shyness
as you might have guessed, having a fixed mindset is correlated with it
if you believe that your personality is fixed
then you fear negative social judgment more
because it will label you as a permanent loser
but there're also shy people with growth mindsets
and this is where it gets interesting
if you look at videos of shy people interacting with others
both mindsets looked nervous in the first five minutes
however, after 5 minutes those who had a growth mindset showed
greater social skills and were more likeable
in fact
they would judge as performing just as well as non shy people
meanwhile the fixed mindset continue being awkward
what's important is the growth mindset was ready to embrace the challenge
and viewed it as a chance to improve the social skills
and that made all the difference
you can also apply to something like confidence
for example
if a person believes that the traits have fixed
then the confidence becomes more fragile
one big step back or failure would undermine everything
and categorize them as a permanent loser
on the other hand if you have a growth mindset
you won't let failure defines you
instead you try to learn from it
as evidence
researchers tracked students at the University of California over their college years
sure enough
the higher you scored as a growth mindset
the more confident you were as you went to the University and all the challenges that brings
conversely
those with the fixed mindset lost confidence after facing those same challenges
now I'm not saying the growth mindset will guarantee success
however from all the studies
it definitely seems helpful
and the best thing is if you don't have it now
the growth mindset can be learnt
so remember
no matter how bad it seems
we are always capable of changing for the better
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