Growth vs. Fixed Mindsets

By: Michael Beiter

I run into a lot of fixed mindsets and magical thinking.

People with fixed mindsets believe that capacities, abilities, and personality traits are set, stuck, and unable to change. As the saying goes, "You can't teach an old dog new tricks."

Those who engage in magical thinking have a belief or wish about the relationship between cause and effect that is not supported by objective reality. In my space, that looks like '12 weeks to magically transform your body and life,' and then you're done, forever. When I get hired, I always hear, "I thought getting healthy would be an easy project to knock off my to-do list. It's not."

In combination, a fixed mindset and magical thinking make for a miserable time.

Fortunately, one tool helps both issues: a growth mindset.

A growth mindset is a belief that anything - an ability, a capacity, a personal trait - can be improved by a sustained effort.

When you adopt a growth mindset, you can focus on process over progress, persevere through setbacks, learn from failure and mistakes, and drop the disconnection with reality.

With enough practice, old dogs can learn new tricks, and reality replaces fantasy.