Discover the Power of Your Mindset
Mindset Book Cover via Google Images
Mindset, The New Psychology of Success, written by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., takes the notions of one’s mindset and twists it into the driving force behind success. As the book describes, this is success in regards to parenting, business, school, sports and relationships—romantic, personal and professional. Through years of research, Dweck has broken down and studied the phases and power of one’s mindset, and the outcomes of each one’s success. Her results, in conjunction with her own personal experience and interviews with well-known professionals, are both motivational and influential, and can change any day’s work into a great one by simply changing your mindset.
Dweck drives one idea harder than any other: failure doesn’t have to be the end. No matter your mindset, there is always room for improvement. Your abilities, intelligence and knowledge do not have a limit, but are always expandable. She writes, the best of us “look failures in the face, even their own, while maintaining faith that they would succeed in the end” (Dweck, Pg. 110).
Notable quotes:
- Parenting/Teaching:
“a fixed-mindset … asking them to fit the mold of the brilliant, talented, child or be deemed unworthy. [...]
“growth-minded ideals … giving them something they can strive for. … giving their children growing room.” (Pg. 192 & 193)
- Business/Leading/Following:
“I hate using the first person. Nearly everything I’ve done in my life has been accomplished with other people.” – Jack Welch, GE
- School/Sports:
“After every game or practice, if you walk off the field knowing that you gave everything you hand, you will always be a winner.” -Mia Hamm, USA Soccer
- Relationships (Romantic, Personal & Professional):
“A no-effort relationship is a doomed realtionship. … It takes work to communicate accurately and it takes work to expose and resolve conflicting hopes and beliefs. … ‘they worked happily ever after.’” (Pg. 152)
Dweck, C. S. P. D. (2006). Mindset. New York: Random House, Inc.
Habits of Happiness :: TED Talk by Matthieu Ricard
If you’ve never watched a TED talk, I’d encourage you to not go another day without the experience – watch this one.
(If the embed video does not show up here, please click the link above to watch the video.)
This TED talk, “Matthieu Ricard on the habits of happiness,” is given by Matthieu Ricard, a Buddhist monk, author and photographer from the Himalayas. In his bio, people have called him the “happiest man in the world.”
His talks hits on a lot of points I will be presenting next week for my leadership book, Mindset, by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.
He speaks about the contrast between your mind’s control over good and evil, anger and happiness, familiarity and reality, love and kindness (and you can watch it with subtitles in 31 languages!).
Can you change your happiness simply by changing the habits of your mind’s thought process?
Ricard says yes, so does Mindset, and so do I.
The past couple days I’ve challenged myself to embrace the thoughts of Ricard and those presented in Mindset, and (honestly) I’ve seen the difference, and not just in my own thoughts and actions but the thoughts and actions of the friends, family and people around me.
I’d encourage everyone to watch this video and try it this week, then tell me how it worked for you.
For those familiar with TED talks, do you have a favorite?
Recent Comments