Mindsets shape the worlds we create for ourselves. They influence the lives we lead, the actions we take, and our future possibilities. Our mindset is our unique set of assumptions-our world view and philosophy of life. Any mindset starts with a simple belief about ourselves that guides our lives. Our beliefs about ourselves and our place in the world, which we often call self-esteem or confidence, permeates every part of life. Much of what we consider our personality grows from our mindset. Similarly, much of what prevents us from fulfilling our potential grows from it, too.
After decades of research, Stanford professor Carol Dweck, Ph.D. developed the concept that one’s mindset greatly affects achievement and success. She found that people with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities, like intelligence or talent, are simply unchanging traits. These people spend their time documenting their talents instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success-without effort. People with this kind of mindset are less likely to flourish than those with what Dweck calls a growth mindset.
People with a growth mindset see things differently. They believe they can develop their basic abilities through dedication and hard work and that brains and talent are just the starting point. This view creates a love of learning and a resilience that is essential for great accomplishments. Embracing and teaching a growth mindset creates motivation, increases productivity, and enhances relationships.
A fixed mindset can quickly lead to a scarcity mindset–a poverty mentality of sorts. This mentality orients the mind automatically and powerfully toward unfulfilled needs. Scarcity creates a strong drive to address urgent needs while ignoring future goals. Scarcity makes us myopic-forcing the mind to focus on and overvalue the present paucity. When we find ourselves in this frame of mind, we only attend to pressing issues and fail to make investments in the future, even when future benefits can be substantial. Attending to the future requires cognitive resources, which scarcity depletes. A poverty mentality influences the belief that we shouldn’t spend money; we’ll have limited opportunities; we should avoid risk of any kind; and success will be fleeting.
Although we can’t observe mindset directly, we can infer the nature of it by the actions people take. Mindset determines how we frame issues, what we believe, how we respond to setbacks, and how we interpret emotions such as fear and motivation.
When people possess what I call a Success Mindset, they have an emotional yet positive response to new and different information-an abundance mentality. They want to grow because they believe they will always have enough, and usually they will have more than enough. They allow excitement, curiosity, passion, and achievement-drive to guide their decisions and actions. Most importantly, they control their own fears and try to mitigate the negative emotions of others.
People with a Success Mindset don’t ignore, diminish, or deny fear; they accept it. They realize focusing on fear, even while trying to reduce it, won’t prove productive. Instead, they allow themselves and others to experience fear, but then take actions that provide a sense of accomplishment and momentum-the antidotes to the immobility fear can cause. They also refuse to second-guess their tough calls; they ask for help from trusted advisers; and they eschew unsolicited feedback. Most of all, they trust their abilities to sail in uncharted seas.
The decision-making process involves more than evaluating what we see and hear: it’s a biological process. Cognition is part physiological, part psychological, and part contextual-but it’s not always rational. People with the right mindset for success reduce the risk of very human cognitive biases and decision traps. They are systemic thinkers, discerning as well as curious. They remain open to new ideas without being naïve, and they avoid the trap of hubris.
Why can some people embrace a growth mindset and bounce back from adversity while others languish? Research tells us that we want power and authority over our futures. When we perceive control in our lives, we feel optimistic and secure. When we don’t, we feel persecuted, overwhelmed, unmotivated, and powerless.
People with a Success Mindset don’t allow these kinds of self-defeating behaviors to interfere with their own skills for combating uncertainty, and they prevent others from slipping into a victimization mindset, too. A Success Mindset-one that shapes resilience-recognizes that challenges aren’t permanent; talented people can figure things out; and even failure isn’t fatal. The Success Mindset allows leaders to learn from past missteps and helps them move past them, so people and organizations can thrive.