Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (Updated Edition)

“When you’re lying on your deathbed, one of the cool things to say is, ‘I really explored myself.’

Robert Sternberg, the present-day guru of intelligence, writes that the major factor in whether people achieve expertise “is not some fixed prior ability, but purposeful engagement.” Or, as his forerunner Binet recognized, it’s not always the people who start out the smartest who end up the smartest.

grunted, perspired, and toiled

that people are terrible at estimating their abilities

Everyone has a role model, someone who pointed the way at a critical moment in their lives.

t as a society we value natural, effortless accomplishment over achievement through effort.

even geniuses have to work hard for their achievements.

In the fixed mindset, however, the loss of one’s self to failure can be a permanent, haunting trauma.

failure can be a painful experience. But it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from.

An assessment at one point in time has little value for understanding someone’s ability, let alone their potential to succeed in the future.