If you've ever had this experience then you are my friend. It indicates that you have a Growth Mindset. And this openness to life is something I truly admire.
This relatively small idea has absolutely revolutionized my way of looking at the world, and has given me a whole new understanding of people.
Carol Dweck wrote a book called "Mindset" and in it she differentiates between those of us with a Fixed Mindset, and those of us with a Growth Mindset.
-If you have a Fixed Mindset you pretty much think personal traits are determined from a very young age, if not from birth. Little to nothing can be done to change these qualities and tendencies.
-If you have a Growth Mindset you think your abilities, talents, and intelligence can continue to grow over time.
This was a game-changer for my interpersonal world. I finally realized why sometimes friends or coworkers look at me like I've gone crazy. You know, like, seriously wearing-your-bra-outside-your-shirt kind of crazy. I'd be going on and on about some new thing I learned and how I felt it could change my world (and by that I usually mean change the entire world.)
It's because I believe in change. I believe in transformation. Transformation is an overriding theme of my life. And now I know not everyone sees deep and lasting change as even a remote possibility. But I do because I have a growth mindset. And they don't because they have a fixed mindset.
If you think your traits are formed at birth then you simply are a person who's afraid to travel, is unable to resist bad food, can't draw, are a couch potato., or whatever. That's just how you think you are. So, obviously, what's the point of discussing a new way to view nutrition, a way to overcome a fear of flying, a new workout program, or even a book that does more than entertain...because if that's just how you are, why bother?
Fixed mindset friends and coworkers just think I'm delusional discussing the possibility of real change. Growth mindset friends want to know how they can apply some new idea to their lives, while my fixed mindset friends just pity me for my extreme naivete.
Dweck says that our beliefs in the ability to change may be stronger or weaker in various areas of our lives but we tend to have an overall leaning toward one or the other. I'm guessing I've weeded out most fixed mindset people from my readership by now. All I ever seem to want to talk about is new ways to see things.
-Voltaire
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