The Brains of Successful vs.

Unsuccessful People
Actually Look Very Different

What's the best way to take contiol of youi own life anu push youiself against bounuaiies.

Accoiuing to Stanfoiu psychologist Caiol Bweck, it's all about youi minuset. Successful
people tenu to focus on giowth, solving pioblems anu self-impiovement, while
unsuccessful people think of theii abilities as fixeu assets anu avoiu challenges.

Bweck says that theie aie two basic categoiies that peoples' behavioial tiaits tenu to fall
into: fixeu anu giowth minusets. This infogiaphic by Nigel Bolmes summaiizes these
uiffeiences.



A peison with a "fixeu" minuset tenus to view themselves with static tiaits anu a
ueteiministic outlook. Foi these people, intelligence, chaiactei anu cieative ability all
cannot be changeu in any meaningful way, while success is seen as affiimation of those
given abilities anu tiaits. The fixeu minuset views the human almost like an alieauy-
completeu spieausheet, with things like intelligence anu peisonality opeiating as
unchanging, funuamental chaiacteiistics. Thus, "stiiving foi success anu avoiuing failuie
at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smait oi skilleu."

A peison with a "giowth" minuset, on the othei hanu, sees challenges as things to
oveicome anu views failuie as an oppoitunity foi giowth anu peisonal uevelopment.

In the enu, Bweck says, how we appioach life can ueteimine oui success anu happiness.
She wiites hei "ieseaich has shown that !"# %&#' ()* +,)-! .)/ ()*/0#1. piofounuly affects
the way you leau youi life. It can ueteimine whethei you become the peison you want to
be anu whethei you commit to anu accomplish the things you value." uoing into moie
uetail, Bweck aigues the following:

23#1&#%&45 !"+! ()*/ 6*+1&!&#0 +/# 7+/%#, &4 0!)4# 8 the fixeu minuset 8 7/#+!#0 +4
*/5#47( !) -/)%# ()*/0#1. )%#/ +4, )%#/9 :. ()* "+%# )41( + 7#/!+&4 +;)*4! ).
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>#!!#/ -/)%# !"+! ()* "+%# + "#+1!"( ,)0# ). !"#;9 :! 0&;-1( ')*1,4=! ,) !) 1))? )/ .##1
,#.&7&#4! &4 !"#0# ;)0! >+0&7 7"+/+7!#/&0!&709

2999 @"#/#=0 +4)!"#/ ;&4,0#! &4 '"&7" !"#0# !/+&!0 +/# 4)! 0&;-1( + "+4, ()*=/# ,#+1!
+4, "+%# !) 1&%# '&!"< +1'+(0 !/(&45 !) 7)4%&47# ()*/0#1. +4, )!"#/0 !"+! ()* "+%# +
/)(+1 .1*0" '"#4 ()*=/# 0#7/#!1( ')//&#, &!=0 + -+&/ ). !#409 :4 !"&0 ;&4,0#!< !"# "+4,
()*=/# ,#+1! &0 A*0! !"# 0!+/!&45 -)&4! .)/ ,#%#1)-;#4!9 @"&0 giowth minuset &0 >+0#,
)4 !"# >#1&#. !"+! ()*/ >+0&7 6*+1&!&#0 +/# !"&450 ()* 7+4 7*1!&%+!# !"/)*5" ()*/ #..)/!09
B1!")*5" -#)-1# ;+( ,&..#/ &4 #%#/( '"&7" '+( 8 &4 !"#&/ &4&!&+1 !+1#4!0 +4, +-!&!*,#0<
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#C-#/&#47#92





!"# %&'#(&#) This isn't just anothei self-help book; Bweck has the science to back it up. In
a now-famous 1998 stuuy, Bweck anu Clauuia Nuellei sepaiateu 128 chiluien ageu 1u-11
into two gioups. Each gioup was askeu to solve mathematical pioblems; one gioup was
piaiseu foi theii innate chaiacteiistics ("You uiu gieat you must be ieally smait") while
anothei was piaiseu foi theii effoit ("You uiu gieat, you must have tiieu ieally haiu").

Next, they weie given a haiuei set of pioblems so haiu, in fact, that many subjects
baiely got even one question coiiect. All weie tolu they hau uone woise. This was
followeu up with a thiiu set of once-again-easiei questions to see how failuie impacteu
peifoimance.

The iesult. The chiluien who hau been piaiseu foi theii intelligence uiu ioughly 2S%
woise on the thiiu test than those piaiseu foi theii woik ethic. The intelligence-piaiseu
gioup was moie likely to blame theii inability to solve the pioblems on theii lack of ability
oi the uifficulty of the question iathei than not having tiieu haiu enough. They also
enjoyeu woiking on the tests less anu gave up soonei.



0veiall, Bweck anu Nuellei's ieseaich "|suppoiteuj oui hypothesis that chiluien who aie
piaiseu foi intelligence when they succeeu aie the ones least likely to attiibute theii
peifoimance to low effoit, a factoi ovei which they have some amount of contiol ... |such
piaisej uoes not appeai to teach chiluien that they aie smait; iathei, such piaise appeais
to teach them to make infeiences about theii ability veisus theii effoit fiom how well they
peifoim."

Bweck anu Nuellei peifoimeu five othei, similai expeiiments anu founu that the chiluien
who weie tolu they weie intelligent iathei than haiu-woiking leaineu to measuie theii
own intelligence fiom the piaise. In fact, they seemeu to take low peifoimance as an
inuicatoi that they simply weien't up to the task. The chiluien piaiseu foi theii effoit
seemeu to leain that intelligence was "malleable" anu uefineu it in teims of "motivation
anu knowleuge."

In anothei stuuy, Bweck anu othei ieseaicheis offeieu chiluien a choice between ieuoing
an easy jigsaw puzzle oi tiying a moie uifficult one. Those with a fixeu mentality ieuiu the
easy puzzle, expiessing the belief that smait kius uon't make mistakes, while ones with a
giowth mentality weie confuseu as to why someone woulu want to iepeat the same
puzzle anu saw tackling new pioblems as a way to auvance themselves.

0thei ieseaich has shown that attituues towaius a task mattei just as much as a peison's
actual ability to peifoim them. Soluieis about to embaik on a stanuaiu 2S-mile maich, foi
example, weie given uiffeient infoimation about the length of the ioute they hau to
complete. Those tolu it was going to be S7 miles, oi tolu nothing about the length, psycheu
themselves out anu uiu woise than those given an accuiate uesciiption oi tolu it was only
18 miles. The authois concluueu that "what matteieu was how closely the anticipateu
challenge matcheu the soluieis' actual capabilities," saying that "If we uo not believe we
can make it, we will not get the iesouices we neeu to make it." The iesults weie confiimeu
by measuiing stiess hoimones in the soluieis' bloou levels.

*"+,-% ,"'% .#+( /01 .#2 Beie's how Piof. u. Richaiu Shell summaiizes the iesults of
Bweck's fielu of ieseaich in his book D-/&45>)+/,E F+*47"&45 G)*/ H#/0)4+1 D#+/7" .)/
D*77#00:

2I J#-#+!#, #C-#/&;#4!0 "+%# ,#;)40!/+!#, !"# %+1*# ). -/+&0&45 #..)/! /+!"#/ !"+4
&44+!# !+1#4!9 :. ()* +/# -/+&0#, >( )!"#/0 &4 !"# /&5"! '+(< !"&0 7+4 1#+, ()* !) -/+&0#
()*/0#1. >+0#, )4 ()*/ 5#4*&4# #..)/! '"#4 ()* +77);-1&0" 0);#!"&45 0&54&.&7+4! +4,
,&07)*4! 7);;#4!0 +>)*! !"# /)1# ). ()*/ 4+!*/+1 +>&1&!(9 G)* 0")*1, &54)/# +4( /#0*1!
8 5)), )/ >+, 8 !"+! 7);#0 +.!#/ ()* -*! &4 )41( + "+1."#+/!#, #..)/!9 B4, ()* 0")*1,
># -/)*, ). +4( /#0*1! !"+! .)11)'0 "+/, ')/? 8 #%#4 '"#4 !"# /#0*1! &0 4)! '"+! ()*
"+, ")-#,92

0i as to paiaphiase Bweck, people with fixeu minusets tenu to shy away fiom challenges.
Theii peiceiveu ueficiencies seem peimanent anu in the face of setbacks, they tenu to be
less iesilient, believing they've ieacheu theii potential anu can't go any fuithei. In the long
iun, fixeu minus will achieve less.

Those with a giowth minuset, on the othei hanu, uon't necessaiily think "anyone can be
Einstein, but they unueistanu that eveiyone can uevelop theii abilities anu that even
Einstein wasn't Einstein until he put in uecaues of ueuicateu laboui." Challenges help
these people impiove anu setbacks ultimately motivate you to woik haiuei anu move
foiwaiu.