Mindset Case Study Essay

I read the Mindset book by Carol S, Dweck. This book really made me think and reflect about what kind of person I am. It focuses mostly on the benefits of having a growth mindset and the downside of having a fixed mindset. I learned a lot about how you can grow as a person instead of failing and giving up. Most of the most successful people are people with the growth mindset who learn from their mistakes and apply it to their career or everyday life. I use to believe that some peoples born talents are better than those who work harder but are not as naturally good. For example Michael Jordan got cut from his high school basketball team. Instead of giving up after he was told he wasn’t good enough that motivated him more and he worked hard and improved and eventually became one of the most talented basketball players in NBA history. One thing that I disliked was that the writer focused on the positive of the growth mindset when sometimes the fixed mindset can be useful. It sounds like common-sense but it is in how it carefully uses both biographical data and scientific research to strengthen the reader’s understanding of the true implications of this finding. After I read ‘Mindset’, I understood much better why John McEnroe was famous for his tantrums (he had a very fixed mindset, a tennis loss meant that he was inherently worthless, that he was, permanently and in all aspects of life, a ‘loser’), as well as why a four-star chef like Bernard Loiseau committed suicide. I learned that Chinese students who think that intelligence is unalterable don’t follow remedial English courses, but also that American medical students who believe in innate ability flunk chemistry much more often than students who consider early failure as a sign that they haven’t worked hard enough or that they should try other learning strategies. I also learned some things that are counterintuitive, such that you should never praise children for being smart or talented. I knew I liked the book from the beginning because it had situations I could relate to and made me actually think about my life and how I can become the best I can be.