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MESSAGE #1060 FIXED VS GROWTH MINDSETS

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Carol Dweck, Ph.D. at Stanford University.

I just finished listening to and interview with Carol Dweck, Ph.D. and author of “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”

I talk about Dr. Dweck in my book, “Game. Set. Life.” and her research on fixed versus growth mindsets.

In a fixed mindset, people worry about their skills/talent and think that you only have a certain amount.

People with growth mindsets feel that the sky is the limit and that it takes challenges for you to grow and improve.

With a growth mindset, setbacks are opportunities to grow and improve.

I asked Dr. Dweck what an athlete can focus on when they are not playing their best game, or when the pressure is on.

She said that instead of beating yourself up after a loss, you should think about what you can do to improve next time and what you can work on in practice. The key is effort and practice, not results. Don’t worry about talent.

Dweck talked about her own career and said that “Everything involves setbacks.”

It’s true.

And I always say, “A setback is a setup for a comeback.”

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #1008 WHAT I LIKE ABOUT MYSELF…

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One of the things I like about myself is that I have a growth mindset – I LOVE learning. I love what I do so much that I don’t want to go to bed at night and I can’t wait to get up in the morning.

Well in a few hours I will be hopping a flight from Philadelphia International Airport to Orlando, Florida to attend a mental toughness certification program for 2.5 days. The goal is to learn more about my craft. People say that I have become successful, but I don’t look at it that way;  I will never say that “I’ve made it,” or “I know it all.”

I will never know it all. The sky’s the limit.

Carol Dweck, author of one of my favorite books, “MINDSET: The New Psychology of Success” and professor at Stanford University talks about fixed and growth mindsets.

“I think enjoyment is key.  You have to have a passion for what you do.  It’s not about your parents pushing you or your coach threatening you.  It’s about you just wanting to be better and loving every minute of it.  Not every minute, but most of it.”

I learn from everyone I can, from experts like Dweck, strangers, children…ANYONE.

I use all the brains I have and all that I can borrow. – WINSTON CHURCHILL

Next blog entry from sunny Florida…

MESSAGE #651 HARD WORK BEATS TALENT…

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I remember reading an interview with Carol Dweck, professor at Stanford and author of Mindset. She was talking about the great Olympic athlete, Bruce Jenner.

“He was incredibly talented in sports, and had a fixed mindset, really grooving on his talent, but he had a learning disability and he had to struggle in school. He saw that the struggling paid off and led him to learn. And then he thought one day, ‘What if I put that effort where I already have the talent? What will that do?’ So he transferred it and said he never would have had the sports success he had, had he not had this learning disability. Had he not come to understand the power of effort to ignite your ability, to increase your ability.”

Did Bruce Jenner have talent?

Of course he did, but we ALL have talent.

Many talented people don’t make it because they feel that they don’t need to put the work in. These people have a fixed mindset. And guess what? They are often surpassed by less talented people who do put the time in.

If you do what you love and work hard…the sky is the limit.



Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #449 GREETINGS FROM KEAN UNIVERSITY…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to all the great students at Kean University.

So here I am in the computer lab in the library at Kean University. I am very excited. Excited because I love libraries – I love learning. Just being around books makes me happy.

Do you love learning?

Learning about your sport?

Your major in college?

Your job?

Your musical instrument?

Carol Dweck at Stanford University talks about fixed and growth mindsets. She says that if you have a fixed mindset, you think that there is only so much you can learn and only so good you can get.

A growth mindset means that you feel that there is NO limit as to how much you can learn and that your potential is endless.

Guess what I believe in?

Most people just learn enough to get by. The great ones keep on learning.

So, do you want to just get by, or do you want to become great?

It’s up to you.

“Consult not your fears but your hopes and your dreams. Think not about your frustrations, but about your unfulfilled potential. Concern yourself not with what you tried and failed in, but with what it is still possible for you to do.”

-Pope John XXIII

Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #431 LIFE IS LIKE KARATE…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Noah Maxwell.

Master Okazaki is a 9th degree black belt in Shotokan karate. In his book, Perfection of Character, Guiding Principles for the Martial Arts & Everyday Life, he says…

Karate is just like hot water – if you do not give it continuous heat, it will become cold.

I don’t care if you are the world’s greatest tennis player…if you don’t continuously practice and compete, your game will deteriorate, or become cold.

As a peak performance expert and motivational speaker, I make sure that I practice as much as I can and strive for never-ending improvement, because I know that if I don’t, I will lose it, and others will surpass me. Carol Dweck, ph.D., author of Mindset, calls this a growth mindset.

Are you giving your piano playing continuous heat?

Are you giving your sales technique continuous heat?

Are you giving your nutritional plan continuous heat?

Remember…

Success is not doing something once – success is doing something consistently.


Thanks for reading.