Why People With Fixed Mindsets Lose Out On Their Development

Here is one of the best inspirational quotes by Robert Sternberg: “A book can change your life as its ideas have changed mine”.

A mindset is a list of assumptions that people have. They are beliefs about yourself. People with fixed mindsets believe that they’ll always remain the same, their thinking or intelligence. They basically think that their beliefs are carved in stone and that their abilities are innate and unchangeable. People with a developing mindset believe that nothing will ever remain the same and they’re open to opportunities that would change their belief system/thought process and prove them wrong. They are open to learning because no successful person ever became successful by sticking to their own firm mindset.

Travis Bradberry says “Common sense would suggest that having ability, like being smart, inspires confidence. It does, but only while the going is easy. The deciding factor in life is how you handle setbacks and challenges. People with a growth mindset welcome setbacks with open arms”. In this inspirational quote what Travis Bradberry is trying to say is that people with fixed mindsets lose out on important aspects of life which can help them grow because such people hate challenges and avoid risks that might injure their ego. There may be no reasoning with such a person, it would be like talking to a brick wall.

How A Fixed Mindset Affects A Person Negatively

Negative self-talk is normal. Even the most positive person does that. Negative thinking is not a cause of a fixed mindset, however there are some similarities. So if you’re an inherently negative person with a fixed mindset, you may never even entertain the prospect of something positive happening. You may keep rehashing about a particular negative thing that happened to you weeks ago and waste so much time and energy on it. You may even start projecting negativity to your future; telling yourself things like ‘once a failure, always a failure’.

How Do People With A Fixed Mindset Lose Out On Development?

Research has shown that people with a fixed mindset tend to participate less in class activities, get lower grades and just want to seem smart. They cannot handle setbacks so they avoid any kind of activity or challenge where they think they won’t be perfect or as smart as others. They see everything as an event which judges how smart they are.

Fearing failure keeps such people from developing. People with a growth mindset look at everything as something that’ll help them learn more about themselves or as a potential ability they can develop. However, people with a fixed mindset convince themselves that they’d fail either way so no point in taking part in such an event or challenge. Such people never get to know more about what they’re capable of and never get to harvest their potential to the fullest.

Denise Morrison says “innovation requires an experimental mind”. This inspirational quote implies that it is easy for fixed mindsets to transition into a growth mindset. All you have to do is learn to praise the situation, not fear and to look at everything as an opportunity, not a test.