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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 #915 FIRST TIME FOR EVERYTHING…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Nikki White in Oklahoma City.

“The reason sport is attractive to many of the general public is that it’s filled with reversals. What you think may happen doesn’t happen. A champion is beaten, an unknown becomes a champion.”
-ROGER BANNISTER

The year after Roger Bannister broke the previously thought physically impossible four-minute mile, 37 runners also ran a sub-four minute mile. A year after that, three hundred runners did the same.

There are no limits. Anything is possible. Does the fastest horse always win the race?

For the first time, the New Orleans Saints are going to the Super Bowl.

For the first time, there are two quarterfinalists in the Australian Open from China.

And this is just in the past couple of days!

Michelangelo said that the problem is not that we set our sights too high and we don’t reach them, it’s that we set our sights too low and we DO reach them.

If you have a growth mindset and focus on constant improvement, the sky is the limit.

Shoot for the moon. If you miss, at least you will be among the stars.

See you in orbit…

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 #650 I THOUGHT MY FIRST TALK WAS A FLOP!

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“I don’t divide the world into the weak and the strong, or the successes and the failures, those who make it or those who don’t. I divide the world into learners and non-learners.”
-BENJAMIN BARBER

I’ll never forget my first talk that I gave. It was at Montclair State University with the great Dr. Rob Gilbert to Disney interns. I decided to speak on the topic of goal setting. I spent quite some time preparing for the big day.

Well, Dr. Gilbert introduced me and I started talking about goals. I only spoke for a few minutes when he interrupted me and took over.

I felt bad. I felt like a failure. I felt that there was no hope.

But I didn’t give up. Instead, I thought, “What else could this mean?”

I later learned from Dr. Gilbert, that instead of just providing information, you need to use quotes, incorporate videos, tell stories, and give demonstrations to make your point.

And now, I feel very confident in my speaking abilities.

Instead of having a fixed mindset and thinking I wasn’t born to be a speaker, I had a growth mindset and focused on learning and improving.

That’s the key to reaching peak performance, it doesn’t matter whether you’re playing Bach or playing baseball.


Thanks for reading, and Happy Mother’s Day to all of you mothers out there.

For a free 10-minute peak performance consultation, email:

MESSAGE #532 BE LIKE MIKE…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to the great Michael Jordan.

We all know that Michael Jordan was cut from his basketball team in the 10th grade. He then went home and cried for the rest of the night. Many people would have given up and tried a different sport, but Michael went to work. The next school year, Michael arrived at school every morning at 6am to worked out with the coach.

Size-wise, many people had the same physical build as Jordan, some more so. So how then did Michael Jordan become MICHAEL JORDAN?

He certainly worked hard. VERY hard. But Jordan also had something inside. DESIRE. He says he was “hungry.” He also had the mindset of a champion BEFORE he became the Michael Jordan that we all know.

Jordan once said that if he ever woke up and thought that he couldn’t get any better than the day before, he would give up basketball. He had a growth mindset.

He was never satisfied. He never said, “I’ve made it.” In his eyes, he never got to the top of the mountain, he was always climbing.

I try to be like Mike. I try to get better every day in all areas of my life. It’s a process, and I’m enjoying the process. Someone once said that there are no limits, just plateaus and we need to continue to go higher and higher.

I agree.

Homework: Be like Mike…today.


Thanks for reading.

MESSAGE #476 WHAT I LIKE ABOUT MYSELF…

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Today’s message is especially dedicated to Jon Heitmann, assistant principal at Glen Ridge High School in New Jersey.

Do you know what I like about myself?

I love learning. I love improving. I have a growth mindset. I don’t feel that there is a limit as to how skilled I can get in sports, business, relationships or any area of life.

Yesterday I watched a DVD of a motivational speaker. I figure if I could get one thing out of it, to help me improve, it would be worth it. Though I didn’t feel that it was a particularly good program, I did walk away with one new thing and I also learned what not to do.

By watching videos like that, I know that I am not just in my job, I am into my job. I feel like I haven’t worked in years.

Now I know what you’re thinking, “Ed, but you’re different.”

Guess what? I’m not different. I wasn’t always like this. I used to hate reading. My grades were only average in high school. I failed out of college…twice.

But now I have found my passion and know my goals, so every day I do a little bit to get closer to those goals.

Do what you love and love what you do. Love learning and love improving. Become a little better every day. It doesn’t matter where you are, what matters is where you want to go.

You can do it…trust me, I know from experience.


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.