I had been itching to read this book ever since I developed an interest in studying the mindsets of my colleagues at my first corporate gig. Being in sales opened my eyes to the various types of roles that sales consist of. I was part of a 10-person team that was responsible for acquiring clients, mostly Fortune 500. While this wasn’t my first introduction to international markets, it was my first introduction to corporate hierarchies and any sort of standard operating procedures. While evaluating the mindsets of my team members, I took into consideration their backgrounds, the income groups they come from, and their previous job experience. What I learned was a great lesson in humility, perseverance, and patience.

Dr Dweck’s mindset embarks upon a journey of understanding how a fixed mindset is detrimental to long-term success and how a growth mindset is essential for constant improvement and success. Amongst the many studies carried out by Dr Dweck, she manages to establish a clear distinction in levels of success acquired by those with the fixed mindset versus those with the growth mindset. The book focuses on various areas and aspects of life including parenting, relationships, education, business, and developing mindsets, and explains how we can change the mindset.

After reading the book, this is my understanding of mindsets:

• Mindsets aren’t permanent
• Possessing a fixed mindset, for one task or experience, doesn’t necessarily mean one can’t have a growth mindset for the other task or experience
• The social media definition of the growth mindset is, for the major part, bogus
• You can have a growth mindset in all aspects of life or you can at least strive for it
• One’s background matters a lot in deducing their mindset but it doesn’t have to be a permanent state
• Mindset is a state in which we process our thoughts and plan our action
• To attain your potential, you first need to believe in it

Looking back at my personal experience, I now understand why some of my team members were not able to operate at a high level and some hit stagnation after a brief stint of successful months. It is important to develop a growth mindset and this book does a great job of helping individuals understand their own mindset in order to make the necessary changes.

In the last chapter of the book, Dr Dweck provides some insights on how to change mindsets and tilt more toward a growth mindset. I would highly recommend this to all readers across all age groups.

Dr Dweck is regarded as one of the leading researchers in the field of developmental and social psychology. She is based out of Palo Alto in Northern California.