Reading Reflection No. 3

What was the general theme or argument of the book?
  • This time I read Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck. This book was about how what we believe about our own abilities and potential actually fuel our behavior and can predict our success. In the book Dweck talks about the power of our beliefs, both our conscious thoughts and unconscious thoughts, and how changing them can profoundly impact our lives. She shares two types of mindsets, the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. According to Dweck, a fixed mindset assumes that our character, intelligence, and creativity can't change in any way. This type of mindset is characterized by striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs. A growth mindset, however, thrives on challenge and sees failure as an opportunity to grow and stretch your existing abilities. Depending on which type you lean more towards, it can say a lot about your life and what will make you feel happy and fulfilled. 

How did the book, in your opinion, connect with and enhance what you are learning in ENT 3003?
  • I felt like this book deeply connected with what I'm learning in this class because it has been reiterated over and over again throughout the semester that there is no entrepreneur without failure. Being able to learn and grow from your failures instead of letting them make you want to just crumble and give up, is crucial to being able to stand by your business idea and keep going even when things get really tough. 
If you had to design an exercise for this class, based on the book you read, what would that exercise involve?
  • If I were to design an exercise for this class based on this book, I would have students take a quiz to find out if they have more of a fixed mindset or more of a growth mindset. Like Dweck says in the book, we have the power to change our lives for the better when we are aware of our thoughts and how they are impacting every facet of our lives. Once the students have taken the quiz and determined which mindset they lean more towards, I would have them reflect on their result and how they think living with that mindset is affecting their lives. 
What was your biggest surprise or 'aha' moment when reading the book? In other words, what did you learn that differed most from your expectations?
  • My biggest 'aha' moment when reading this book was just realizing how much this applies to my life and how I can use these ideas to challenge my current way of thinking. At one point in the book Dweck talked about how having a hunger for approval is a key indicator of having a fixed mindset. In many ways I feel like I have a tendency to do things out of a desire for approval, rather than for the sake of learning and growing. This is probably why I tend to be risk averse and fearful of failure. This book definitely gave me practical ways to reframe my thinking and even invite failure in for the sake of getting better, learning, and growing. 

Comments

  1. Madylin McConnellApril 17, 2020 at 11:01 AM

    Hi Grace,
    I also read this book and had some of the same feedback. I thought it related to my life almost too much because it made me think about how sometimes I can have a fixed mindset. When you were reading the book, did you think she meant that you can only have one mindset always? It seemed like that is how she was describing it, but when I thought about it in my personal life, I couldn’t say I always only had one mindset.
    ~Mady

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  2. Shivani DaveApril 17, 2020 at 2:24 PM

    Hi Grace! Great job on summarizing the main points of the book. As you alluded to, I also found it very interesting that there are generally two very different types of mindsets. I would definately characterize myself as having a growth mindset. I think it is beneficial to have this type of mindset because as your trying to achieve your goals, failure is often unavoidable. Having the ability to demonstrate resilience and learn from your mistakes is key to becoming better.

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  3. Oph06April 18, 2020 at 10:21 PM

    This sounds like an interesting concept, I guess I would consider myself a mix of both so I think I will add this to my quarantine book list! I believe that whatever drives you will depend on how well you do depending on the situation. This sounds like a good opportunity to learn more about yourself and how you can use that to be successful.

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  4. KindraApril 19, 2020 at 2:48 PM

    Hi Grace. I read this book for the last reading reflection assignment and really enjoyed it. You did a great job on summarizing it and relating it to yourself. I was also surprised to find that I have had a fixed mindset for much of my life, but I am working on changing that. I am now trying to change my outlook on failure and do things outside my comfort zone that I wouldn't have pushed myself to do before. I'm glad to know that we aren't stuck with a certain mindset and there is always a way to grow and improve ourselves.

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  5. WilliamolApril 20, 2020 at 1:36 AM

    I really enjoyed reading your post and your reflection. This book sounds really interesting and seems like it has a lot of useful strategies.
    I have strong feeling that what you believe affects what you achieve. It's important to think optimistic and surround you people who believe in you and your idea, who support you.. it creates a special environment around you, so you can grow faster and get rid of your limits. Many people don't realize what they can because they don't believe in themself, and it happed because of limits and restrictions they have.

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