Get your brain in motion

Tag: Psychology

Learning the Growth Mindset

Ever heard of mindset? This word is becoming more and more common in the modern world because experts in many fields such as sports, parenting, business, school and relationships are becoming aware of the importance of mindset in facing life’s challenges. In her insightful book “Mindset: The new psychology of Success”, Carol Dweck talks about the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset through real-life examples and then gives us the tools to apply a growth mindset in all aspects of our lives. Basically, people with a fixed mindset believe that you either have it or you don’t: natural talent is the only possible way to succeed. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset believe that their talents can be developed (through hard work, successful strategies and input from others).
Many studies have shown that having a fixed mindset can help us to reach our goals and to do so with greater ease and enjoyment: we can actually appreciate the process of learning, regardless of the outcome.

Be sure to check out Dr. Dweck’s book, it is sure to give you a new perspective on how to go about life and how to interact with others, whether they be your children or you colleagues.

https://hbr.org/2016/01/what-having-a-growth-mindset-actually-means

 

 

Changing Mindsets

Which ‘mindset’ do you possess? ‘Mindset’ is a simple idea discovered by Stanford University psychologist Carol Dweck in decades of research on achievement and success, a simple idea that makes all the difference.mindset_2

According to Carol Dweck everyone has either a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is one in which you view your talents and abilities as ‘fixed’. In other words, you are who you are, your intelligence and talents are fixed, and your fate is to go through life avoiding challenge and failure. A growth mindset, on the other hand, is one in which you view life as a series of challenges and opportunities for improving and you see yourself as fluid, as a work in progress.

The good news is that mindsets are not ‘set’ and we can cultivate a growth mindset to achieve success and happiness. At any time, we can learn to open our mind to develop our ability to learn new things across a broad range of skills. The more we learn, the more our brain grows and can learn more easily.

In this TEDx talk Eduardo Briceno, co-Founder and CEO of Mindset Works, explains the principles.

The Power of Body Language

In her TED Talk Social psychologist Amy Cuddy shows that body language affects how others see us and it may also change how we see ourselves.

Amy Cuddy’s research on body language reveals that we can change other people’s perceptions — and even our own body chemistry — simply by changing body positions.

The (honest) truth about dishonesty

Dan Ariely, Professor of Psychology and Behavioural Economics, examines the mechanisms at work behind dishonest behaviour, and the implications this has for all aspects of our social and political lives.

Ariely sets our behaviors in two opposing motivations: we would like to view ourselves as honest, value-driven people, but we would also like to make as much money as possible or achieve other goals to get us ahead in life. In order to reconcile these dueling aims, we employ what he calls “cognitive flexibility”: the ability to minimize the extent of our cheating in order to still view ourselves as wonderful human beings.

Watch Ariely’s animation on: http://tiny.cc/tpfrnw

Image source: http://goo.gl/lsv94

Five leadership lessons from Star Trek

Alex Knapp (Social Media Editor at Forbes since October, 2011) analyzes the leadership qualities of the famous Captain Kirk. “In his many years of service to the Federation, James Kirk embodied several leadership lessons that we can use in our own lives. We need to keep exploring and learning. We need to ensure that we encourage creativity and innovation by listening to the advice of people with vastly different opinions. We need to occasionally get down in the trenches with the members of our teams so we understand their needs and earn their trust and loyalty. We need to understand the psychology of our competitors and also learn to radically change course when circumstances dictate. By following these lessons, we can lead our organizations into places where none have gone before.