An interesting book came across my path …

Mindset – The New Psychology Of Success by Carol S. Dweck.

I suppose I should add the Ph.D. at the end of her name. But I think those sorts of things are sub par.

Because it reminds me of how much we’re caught up in labels and impressed by titles.

There are plenty of brilliant people who have no title nor do they need one. But they are certainly overlooked.

It also might have something to do with having an incredibly humble father who never, not once in his entire career added J.D. at the end of his name. Even when he could have and was expected to.

I was curious to see what all this Mindset had to say and if it was anything new.

As for new … not really.

If anything, it strongly reminds me of The Law of Attraction in action.

Law Of Attraction says in all simplicity: like attracts like.

What you focus upon, you attract. Whether that’s focus upon a lack of something or an abundance of something … that’s what you’ll get more of.

Mindset deals with a lot of negative labels and how they work. Especially by teachers.

You know the ones that are out there. Such as: girls aren’t as good as boys at math.

The point that is made is that a student will perform at the level a teacher sets. So if they don’t believe girls are good at math, girls in the class are less likely to succeed and perform well.

As said … like attracts like.

It’s just that this is phrased in the aspect of a mindset. And I have to agree, nothing is more powerful than a mindset … I really believe that sets up how we’re going to do.

We’ve all experienced this. You feel confident, you do well. You feel crappy and worried, you do shitty.

The particularly interesting aspect of this book I found was that of praise harming children.

Especially now where it seems every kid makes the team and gets invited to the class party. Where everyone is so “wonderful and talented and special” … and not that they aren’t, but my point is – we’re too coddling.

Too sensitive.

This, studies are showing, is actually doing more harm than help to children.

One interesting study took two groups of elementary students.

Each were given the same math test.

Each, regardless of their individual scores, were told they missed the exact same amount of problems.

The difference: one group was praised for how smart they are. The other for how hard they worked.

When given another similar test, the “smart” group performed badly, and the “hard working” group significantly improved.

Dweck’s explanation for this is that praising for “smartness” and “natural talent” instills a “fixed” mindset, where there is little room for growth and a strong desire not to disappoint.

For those of you whose interest has been peaked, I highly suggest checking out the book.

The athlete and CEO examples were also interesting to read … it’s always good to see what has worked and what hasn’t.

And being reminded that our attitudes and outlooks affect so much more than we realize.