Fixed Vs Growth Mindset

[ShadowWalker]

I think Carol Dweck's book Mindset is a must-read, whether you're naturally inclined to have a growth mindset, or on the contrary, like me, you've gravitated more towards a fixed mindset. Having read it you almost feel compelled to accept that the Growth Mindset is superior in every way, and I've certainly experienced benefits from going in that direction.

However, I feel there are some very important exceptions. It's easy to become dogmatic and believe that relentless effort is the ultimate key to success, but this can backfire with you stubbornly trying to work on your mediocre gifts in a specific field instead of coming up with creative solutions like the famous Fosbury flop in high jumping. Or you can stick to an occupation that's not really what you are meant to do - Imagine if Newton had dedicated himself to the farm work that he was appointed; what if Darwin had continued studying for a Medical career?

Being willing to hustle or grind it out sounds like an admirable trait but is that always the best option? This willingness can lead you to accept and optimize traditional approaches instead of disrupting the whole paradigm. The first leads to incremental gains, whereas the second can have exponential effects.

Would you agree that laziness and impatience are not always the villains we're so quick to make them out to be? I believe that we're throwing out the baby with the bathwater by trying to eliminate these traits, instead of seeing them as potential flags that draw our attention to an inefficiency in a certain system, pointers that can potentially lead us to much needed innovation.

 

[Nahm]

Yes

[Loreena]

@ShadowWalker Do you do a lot of shadow work 

If you do, does that help you out with everything ?

Edited March 15, 2017 by Loreena

[SLICKHAWK]

Yes impatient is huge complex of our mind. our body even is impatient. However balance the spirit. 

See truth is our purest form/density. 

Love one soul. Love one mind. Love our body now feel that body as our one vibration. feel my love being a constant flow of fresh air or body of river flowing in each moment. 

This can only get deeper if we chose. 

I only ask you dive in with us.

[Epiphany_Inspired]

I see laziness and impatience as both...great teachers/ indicators...but also as destructive nemesis monsters hindering....

[SchallUndRauch]

The book isn't really a great read, though. The (very excellent) point she makes can be explained in a short time, the book just consists of a huge number of anecdotes. There are several good videos about it on youtube, I don't think the book adds that much. I also think you're jumping to conclusions. Grinding it out can be the choice of someone with a growth mindset, it's about the attitude that you tackle your issues with. Nobody said grinding is always the best option. You're categorizing these things like someone with a fixed mindset would. It simply depends on the context. Why are you grinding? Are you learning something in this grinding process? What's the actual situation like? Just how you define grinding is a huge part of what your mindset is, in that particular context. People with a growth mindset can take grinding right now, if it leads to better results in the future, because they don't see it that way, and might actually enjoy the work, even if it's tedious.

Laziness and impatience aren't super evil villains, but they are often very insidious. Except for extreme cases, nobody actually thinks they are lazy. Question is, do you really need them? If you have effectivity in mind, and you're conscious about the impact your actions have, do you need to be neurotic to always look for better ways and not waste your time? Impatience and laziness will always impede long term development for quick results. I don't see the point, I think they are bad values from a theoretical standpoint.

[ShadowWalker]

7 hours ago, Loreena said:

@ShadowWalker Do you do a lot of shadow work 

If you do, does that help you out with everything ?

In the beginning of my journey some of Teal Swan's videos helped me in this regard. My more major breakthrough came after I saw Leo's video about self-acceptance and self-love (the one in which he says 'love your sins to death'). Thanks to Leo and this video I discovered Matt Kahn's who is probably one of the people who most radically shifted my inner beliefs and dialogue. The neurotic self-judgement and relentless obsessive self-criticism gave way to kindness and heart-centered empathy, which not only made me feel at peace in my body and mind for the first time since early childhood, but also in effect transformed virtually all areas of my external circumstances.

 

@SchallUndRauch Yes, I agree on the importance of context and the place you're coming from when choosing your approach. I have nothing against grinding it out in general, and I've done it numerous times. I simply wanted to highlight and discuss some important nuances and exceptions that I feel are not thoroughly discussed in the book, or in society for that matter.