Mindset:The New Psychology of Success

A good, solid intro to a valuable Life Philosophy! A book about the dichotomy between “growth” and “fixed” mindsets: growth mindsets praise hard work and effort, fixed mindsets believe some people are smart and others not. LAMBS AND GOATS, PEOPLE.

This is definitely something that anyone working in or near academia or other socially-certified “Smart People” would do well to read and absorb. I couldn't really buy aalll Carol Dweck's applications; the book covers these mindsets' effects on work, play (sports), relationships. Mostly because this mindset stuff ALSO overlaps with cognitive behavioral stuff, and cognitive errors feel more all-encompassing (to me, at least).

But that is a small critique. I did find this v useful, and goddamn do I wish I had had this book both during undergrad (where I did very well and unhelpfully just assumed it was cuz I had DA SMARTZ - but really I never challenged myself too much) and during grad school (which WAS challenging, and convinced me I was A STUPID and had a much smaller “full potential” than I previously thought). I noticed how only recently, when I taught myself to code in the privacy and seclusion of my home (boy, was that a game-changer on many fronts!), did I stop my reflexive “freezing” whenever something really intellectually challenging would appear, and I could really experience LEARNING, TRUE LEARNING. I'm also trying to apply the growth mindset stuff at work: when someone asks me something I don't know, instead of going into panic freeze mode (“I should know this, shit, what's wrong with me”), I attempt to go into “I have no idea what you're talking about and don't know the answer, BUT I SHALL LEARN!”. That has been very, very helpful. It is a hard habit to break.

In fact, I think the best and most interesting part of this book is its application to pedagogy and learning - a process that is very interesting indeed. And also interesting and heartening (and only obvious once you start losing your fixed mindset!) is how incredibly hamstringing the fixed mindset is, and how much MORE you can get done and how much better you can get at your job with the growth mindset.

So yeah. It's good. Learning is fun. Growth mindset-learning is better.