I came across a really insightful book by Carol Dweck called Mindset: the new psychology of success. She is a Stanford University psychologist who discovered the power of mindset and how adopting a growth mindset can lead to exceptional accomplishment and success. She applies this mindset concept as it impacts us at the individual level as well and the cultural level for groups of people and organizations.
The premise of the book is around this concept of fixed vs. growth mindset. Fixed mindset types of people are those that believe their qualities are fixed and relatively unchanging. In contrast, the growth mindset people are big believers that their abilities can be developed by their own efforts, strategies, and the help of others.
There were some studies performed on how mindsets differ in eastern vs. western cultures and according to the research, a fixed mindset is much more common in the west. We revere those that are deemed naturals within their craft. The term itself creates a subconscious viewpoint that there are those who can and those who can't. She includes some key influential figures throughout history that have leveraged the growth mindset in their professional careers to achieve tremendous success: Tiger Woods, Michael Jordan, Jackson Pollock, and Jack Welch. Some common similarities with these figures is that they didn’t see weakness in working hard, thinking outside the box, trying different approaches, and they always took the time for continued improvement. We often forget about the hard work many successful people put in (and continue to put in) to achieve success, and just assume they’ve always been that good.
I will take this even further as I feel this fixed mindset of western culture is a byproduct of our societal disfavor of vulnerability. Vulnerability is only more recently being touted as a sign of strength, and a key component to achieving success, but it's still not commonly practiced and accepted as a sign of strength.
Brene Brown has discussed in her work the importance of vulnerability for transforming the way we live, love, parent, and lead. In an interview with Forbes, she talks about vulnerability
“as showing up and being seen.... it’s tough to do that when we’re terrified about what people might see or think. When we're fueled by the fear of what other people think or that gremlin that’s constantly whispering... 'you’re not good enough’ in our ear, it’s tough to show up. We end up hustling for our worthiness rather than standing in it.”
This fear of vulnerability and judgment from others is what extinguishes our desire to challenge ourselves and enjoy the learning process. Given we live in a capitalistic society, with everyone trying to outsmart the next one…. who can be better, fast, stronger.... There’s a culture of competition and constant need for validation and approval from others leaves little room for vulnerability— no wonder the fixed mindset is so common.
I’m sure we have all at some point in our lives felt a sense of shame around not getting the gist of something as easily as the others around us… a board game, a joke, sports, jeopardy, whatever... This notion of putting in more effort equating to weakness is backward. In fact, the more people hone and practice their skills at something, the better and stronger they become. The same way we go to the gym to build up our strength and physique overtime applies to any other task or situation in which we learn something new.
The societal tropes, “people don’t change”....”we are who we are” also contribute to the identity as fixed. From a young age, we learn who we are, what we value, what we’re good at, how to view challenges.… all these messages subconsciously impact our mindset. So much so that we start to believe it, and we end up fulfilling those prophecies time and time again without often stopping to reflect, dissect, and challenge these assumptions. We feel a sense of shame around reinventing ourselves, as it relates to our interests, clothing and style choices, political, social, and religious views as if change deems us weak and flawed.
Rather, change speaks to strength, an ability to stretch outside of oneself to do the uncomfortable.
That being said, I’d love to conclude with some suggestions for challenging your own mindset as it relates to your skills and abilities:
Are there any skills or hobbies in your life you haven’t cultivated that you’d like to?
What has held you back from exploring them?
What stories have you told yourself that are preventing you from exploring and honing those skills/hobbies?
What stories have others told you about your abilities, or lack thereof, regarding a field, hobby, activity, or skill?
Can you name 5 reasons why you actually might be skilled in those areas (think outside the box, no standard definitions or criteria necessary)
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