A Review of Growth Mindset vs a Fixed Mindset

A Review of Growth Mindset vs a Fixed Mindset

As we close out this year and prepare to enter into a new year, now is a good time to take an inventory of our mindset. Each year, some individuals make new years’ resolutions to make changes or improve in a specific area of their life.

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These changes often involve our physical bodies or a new years’ resolution to start or stop a particular behavior. However, we should also start thinking about our mental state of mind as well. Today’s article will focus on a review of the book, Growth Mindset vs A Fixed Mindset by author Maxim Dsouza.

From this review, I will provide an origin and definition of a Growth and Fixed mindset as well as give a brief overview of the key points discussed. I hope to provide you insight into the book along with a recommendation on if this book may add value to your reading.

The Origin and Definition of Growth and Fixed Mindset

Carol Dweck, a Stanford University psychologist, introduced the Growth and Fixed mindset terms in her 2006 book titled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

The fixed mindset has limitations on what we can accomplish. For example, a person may believe that their abilities are fixed and can not see themselves doing any more than what they are told they can do.

The growth mindset, however, believes that a person’s skills can be developed, even to the point of setting incremental goals to achieve them.

Dweck expanded her research beyond just individuals. She studied how the workplace and different cultures, being provided with growth mindset training can develop leadership skills to lead a more successful and productive life.

A brief overview of the Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

Dsouza uses an abbreviated approach to explaining the differences between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. He uses the names of two fictional characters, Frank (fixed) and Greg (growth) to describe how they both were career-oriented individuals starting out at the same time in their journeys.

After about 20 years of working, Frank has become a manager with above-average results for the lifestyle he leads. Greg, on the other hand, has become a multi-millionaire leading a very successful lifestyle.

Dsouza takes a look at the behaviors of these two individuals, given the same starting point, resulting in totally different outcomes to explain how mindsets influence our success in life.

A picture of a book titled Growth Mindset versus Fixed Mindset

A few take-a-ways

The fixed mindset:

  • a person’s abilities are fixed and can only reach a certain level of success
  • the person with a fixed mindset will stop short of reaching a goal if it seems too difficult
  • the fixed mindset person believes that their abilities are fixed at birth

The growth mindset:

  • challenges are seen as opportunities to accomplish more
  • with a growth mindset, goals, and hard work can produce successful outcomes
  • a growth-minded person views criticism as a constructive way to improve themselves

What are the pros of this book?

Dsouza does a good job of condensing concepts into easy-to-understand language. He takes information that may normally be covered in over two hundred pages into a smaller book of about 25 pages.

Although the content is condensed, it gets to the meat and bones of the material, leaving a reader with a clear understanding of the concepts and how they apply to different situations.

Dsouza also provides links to different articles that give a reader a chance to apply different applications to enhance their growth.

What are the cons of this book?

The Growth Mindset vs A Fixed Mindset is only available on Kindle. Some readers on Amazon have reported poor image quality but this does not necessarily take away from the content of the book.

Conclusion

We have discussed a brief overview of the Growth and Fixed Mindset, outlined key takeaways of the book, and provided insight on the pros and cons of what to expect. Now let’s wrap up our findings.

Dsouza provides a book with content to teach a reader how to determine if they have a fixed or growth mindset and provide suggestions on how a person can develop a growth mindset.

While there is always room for improvement with anything, Dsouza was able to convey a message that can benefit a reader looking to make mindset changes. So with that, I would recommend this book that can add value to your reading.

As always, thank you for taking the time to review this book review. Your feedback and comments are appreciated.

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