A person exhibiting any form of intense behavior we usually say "The guy's got attitude". This simple comment actually holds a lot of truth. A person's behavioral pattern is directly governed by his set of attitudes he has developed through his childhood. This set of attitudes is called a mindset and basically governs how you lead your life. You can change your mindset and reach better lifestyle if you want to, and this has been brought out beautifully in a well researched book called Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck.
Dweck brings to our attention that basically there are two types of mindsets which govern people's overall behavior; the fixed mindset and the growth mindset. The type of mindset you have will be reflected in all spheres of your life like relationships, education, work, sports and so on. The book focuses mainly in explaining these mindsets, how they affect the life of a person and how it is possible to change your mindset to reach a better lifestyle.
The fixed mindset has a set of attitudes which does not allow a person to change or improve upon anything. These attitudes create a false understanding for the person that whatever abilities and talents that are present cannot be improved upon. It is more of a fatalistic attitude encompassing everything in life and the person is in fact afraid of any change. Any challenges which come up are taken as threats and are avoided or are considered as obstacles in the flow of life.
The growth mindset on the other hand does not believe in anything static or fatalistic. The person feels that there is constant growth possible and in talents, abilities and intelligence. They are able to see a direct link between effort and achievement of goals and are not averse to putting in the maximum effort for their aims in life. Any challenges that they invariably come across are taken as opportunities to grow further and not as roadblocks, and any temporary setbacks are taken to be just that; temporary.
Dweck in her book proposes that sets of attitudes which develop into these mindsets begin forming in childhood and teachers and parents have a big role to play in their formation. Parents and teachers are looked upon as the guiding figures and a child imbibes every subtle action and word of these people. If the child has been brought up in an atmosphere that praises persistent hard work rather than in-born talent, the child has a strong likelihood of developing a strong growth mindset. This type of mindset will show its positive influence in all spheres of a person's life and the person will be able to handle relationships and challenges in life much better.
The good news is that according to Dweck the growth mindset can be developed anytime during a person's life. It just needs an initial understanding on how fixed mindset causes various problems in life, and just by observing these attitudes in one, will set the person on the road to forming a growth mindset.
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