Dr. Carol Dweck has researched how mindsets increase willingness to take risks or try new things. She describes a fixed mindset as “attaching one’s sense of worth to fixed accomplishments such as academic scores, trophies, or accomplishmen

With a fixed mindset, people believe their abilities and intelligence are innate traits and, therefore, cannot change. They think that talent alone leads to success and that effort is less important than ability.

Alternatively, people with a growth mindset believe that abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication and hard work. The growth mindset thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of being less talented or intelligent but as a springboard for growth and stretching existing abilities. These two mindsets will manifest from a very early age. 

A great deal of our behavior, relationship with success and failure, and ultimately, our capacity for happiness seems to grow out of these mindsets. They are vastly different and have profound implications for people's lives.

Kids develop a growth or a fixed mindset early in life based on their education. For example, when your child achieves an accomplishment, is it better to stress that they did well because they are clever, naturally talented, or worked hard?

Dr. Dweck conducted studies to help answer this question. She found that students who said they did well on a test because they worked hard were likelier to volunteer to take a more challenging test. In contrast, students who were told they did well because they were smart were much less willing to chance to lose their “smart” status by taking a more difficult test.

It does not hurt to tell a child they are smart, but overly stressing how smart, talented, or athletic they are sets the child up to expect high levels of success. When they fail—as they inevitably will—they don't feel competent, naturally talented, or gifted. They must then adopt coping strategies like blaming others or finding excuses.

Helping kids learn the value of hard work, developing strategies or finding ways to work around problems, and learning to accept failure as a part of life helps prepare kids for the struggles they will have.

Kids develop attitudes about how good they are at sports, how well they can do math, and whether they are artistic or creative based on what we say and how we teach. Most of these skills require a lot of practice and effort to perform well. A growth-oriented mindset will help the child (and adults) work harder and achieve higher levels of mastery, more confidence, and greater self-worth.

The fixed mindset sets up an assumption that you will do well or not for the category you fit in, and these stereotypes and expectations can impact the outcome. You can either do poorly on a test because the stereotype says you will do poorly, or you can do poorly on a test because the stereotype suggests you are smart and should do excellent. Still, that assumption puts pressure on you either way and will impact your performance. 

Working hard to create a particular outcome or to gain some reward is natural; we’re all motivated by rewards or accomplishments, and we all want to achieve the advantages in life that come from hard work. This seems normal, and frequently, we may feel that the outcome justifies and supports the hard work. But what happens when we fail?

If we are more growth-oriented—process-oriented—we can enjoy every step along the way and savor the small wins that may or may not lead to attaining every goal. So, even if you don’t always get the desired outcome, you will be much more likely to enjoy the journey and keep trying

Being Growth-Oriented Is Being Process-Oriented