Personal Narrative: The Fixed Mindset

In chapter three it explains why your thought make you feel depress. “Every bad feeling you have is the result of your distorted negative thinking” (Burns, 1980, p. 28). It is feeling of beeng trap in negativity and emptyness. As I have mentioned in the past, I work at the Dollar General as a cashier. Lately, they ask me if I wanted to become a lead, I was surprise that they choose me, because I fell that I am not good for that position. The reason I mentioned this situation again is because as I was reading this chapter, I notice that all the “definition of cognitive distortion” applied to this circumstances:

Growth mindset and the fixed mindset: The two focal points of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success written by Carol Dweck. Pushing yourself further and further so that you can strengthen your intelligence, versus believing that the knowledge you know and have cannot be brought to a higher level. Even though the book was a difficult read, it really opens the mind to the different views on life, and the many ways that people go about their lives. How the fixed mindset may bring someone to success at first but later in their life lead them to a crisis. Or how the growth mindset may be difficult to grasp and achieve, but it will enact success in the future. The book advises ways to go from having the fixed mindset to the growth mindset, from saying things such as, “Yet those people with the growth mindset were not labeling themselves… Even though

Her father’s words echoed through her head as one might hear a reverberation throughout the Taj Mahal. Continuous. Chilling. Having no control to distill the wavelengths until they mellowed out on their own accord. She tried to anatomize the depth of his phrase, more than dutifully needed but Davina needed to know why. Why did she need to keep an open mind and more importantly, who the hell was about to come bursting through that door. But then again, did it really matter in the first place. When she thought about it, the brunette could have laughed at the idea. That an unattributed, faceless figure had her panties in a bunch. Surely Dominic wouldn’t think to waste her time with venial diversions,

In the article "Fixed vs. Growth: The Two Basic Mindsets That Shape Our Lives," the author Popova states that Carol Dweck’s Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is "an inquiry into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how changing even the simplest of them can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives." This remark is critical in understanding the main point that there are two types of mindsets: fixed and growth mindset. Fixed mindset is when one believes that they cannot change their character, while growth mindset is believing that character can be improved through failure.

Dweck believes that someone who possesses a “growth mindset” is almost the polar opposite of someone who has a “fixed mindset.” A person with a growth mindset is able to think positively and see the silver lining of an unfavorable situation. They are able to improve from their mistakes, and always finds a way to become better at different aspects of life. Growth mindsets come with an open mind, making these people extremely versatile in any circumstance. In addition, their mindsets increase in complexity through maturity. They believe that as long as anyone puts in the effort, they have the potential to succeed.

Of course the norm for me is that of any citizen living in zone three.

A growth mindset juxtaposed to a fixed mindset shows how people grow from thing rather than continue the way they are and never change. A fixed mindset is a person with the thinking that they are who they are and can not be changed from the way they where born. A growth mindset is a person who believe that they are and always able to grow and change who they are: Being born not knowing what they are meant to be. In a fixed mindset though Carol Dweck a world renowned Stanford University Psychologist says that we can let failure define who we are or see setbacks as opportunities to grow and improve ourselves. While people in a fixed mindsets think of failures as what was meant to happen and it can not be

The social norm I broke is making too much eye contact, or staring excessively, at my teachers. While sitting in class, I stared at my teachers more than I stared at my paper or looked around the classroom. It is usually normal for students to stare down at their desks and not look at the teacher a lot.

In the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Dr. Carol Dweck, what makes people different – the different types of mindsets – is explored. Dr. Dweck states that there are two types of mindsets: fixed and growth. In the fixed mindset, individuals believe that life deals them a set of cards and they do what they can with what they were given. For example, if people with the fixed mindset receive a poor grade on a test, they are convinced there is nothing that can be done about it. They accept that they are not smart enough; they are a failure. On the other hand, an individual with the growth mindset would wonder what they could do to improve next time. They would pay more attention to the lesson, or go to the teacher for help. People with the growth mindset believe in stretching themselves, as their full potential is unknown. Unlike the fixed mindset, growth mindset individuals believe human characteristics are fluid: one can always become more intelligent, or develop more skills. Whichever mindset a person has, the important message is that one’s mindset can change.

By reading the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success people are able to determine if they are fixed-mind set or growth mind set. There are many people across the world who are fixed-mind set and believe that their abilities and intelligence cannot change. They dwell on the problems at hand and fail to recognize alternative ways to solve them. This group tends to have low self-esteem so they will prove themselves to others so they can feel superior academically or skilled related. If they fail at their task, they become more concerned with other’s thoughts, which diverges them from the actual objective. On the other hand, growth mind set is completely different from fixed-mind set. Growth mind set is someone who accepts the problem and thinks of a positive or useful way to fix the issue. This person believes that their strengths and weakness can grow with time and practice. These two mind sets help scientists explain why people act differently when faced with the same difficult situation.

Eduardo Briceno described two types of mindsets that can either enhance or hinder a person’s growth. I believe both terms of fixed and growth mindsets hold much validity in today’s society. We can see how children are affected by parents’ praise or how children perform differently from encouragement in the school. The same is true for someone like myself who’s in her 20’s. My beliefs are more consistent with the growth mindset, because my psychology courses have given me bounds of evidence that your perspective can change how you succeed. I know how important it is to have a positive perspective. One example that comes to mind is Jane Elliot’s “Blue eyes-Brown eyes” exercise. This study displayed how children would do poorly in school if they were told people with a different eye color were better. The children that were told they would do poorly did just that because they internalized the information and got stuck in the perspective that they would always do terribly.

I quickly swallowed my homemade authentic Indian food leftovers and gulped down my chocolate milk. Looking down at my watch that read 11:28am, I knew that I only had two minutes until my most favorite part of the day: recess. This particular day in 5th grade, I had run a lap around the playground before getting the rest of recess to myself. As I started walking for my warmup, another student ran up and said, “My parents said that your people caused 9/11.” Completely caught off guard, I held back the tears in my eyes and tried to shake off his comment. I had never encountered something like this.

I have had many forces and experiences that have shaped me. They have not only shape who I have become, but who I am going to become. Throughout my life I have made a bunch of dumb decisions, mistakes, or things that just happen to me. Everything, in one way or another will take part in what happens in our lives. Whether I’m playing baseball, riding dirt bikes, or just messing around at home, it will all play into who we will become.

I chose to break the norm of either smiling at strangers or giving them a neutral look when you make eye contact. I decided to give every stranger I passed a confused look like they had just spoken to me in another language. I must admit, this made me feel a bit goofy. I was on the fence as to whether or not to do this in the first place but I decided I just had to. The responses I received were quite comical. A few people asked if I was alright, and one person even asked if I had a problem with them.

There were a big huge of difference between those who has growth mindset and fixed mindset. Growth mindset people who always push themselves forward and put effort on it, also their brains and and talents are just the starting point. Fixed mindset is the opposite of those who has growth mindset, they always gave up on themselves, or not believing in themselves, they thinks that they are not as smart as those who has growth mindset, but they were wrong.