※Carol S. Dweck is an American psychologist best known for her pioneering work on mindset theory, which explores how people’s beliefs about their abilities affect their motivation, achievement, and personal growth.

 

#Background

Full name: Carol Susan Dweck

Born: October 17, 1946, in New York City, USA

Education:

Bachelor’s degree from Barnard College

Ph.D. in psychology from Yale University

Current position: Professor of Psychology at Stanford University

 

#Major Contributions

 

Developed the “Fixed vs. Growth Mindset” framework — one of the most influential ideas in modern psychology and education.

Her research shows that believing intelligence can be developed (growth mindset) leads to higher motivation, better learning outcomes, and resilience.

She has published many influential papers and books, most notably:

#Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006)

# Recognition & Impact

 

Dweck’s work has shaped global approaches to education, leadership, and personal development.

Her ideas have been applied in schools, companies, sports teams, and even parenting practices to encourage a culture of learning and effort.

She’s received multiple honors for her contributions to psychology, including awards from the American Psychological Association (APA).

※Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol S. Dweck explores how our beliefs about intelligence and ability shape success.

 

#Core Idea

 

Fixed Mindset:

Believes intelligence and talent are innate and unchangeable. People with this mindset avoid challenges, fear failure, and give up easily.

 

Growth Mindset:

Believes abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and persistence. People with this mindset embrace challenges and see failure as a chance to grow.

 

#Key Points

 

Effort matters more than talent. Success comes from practice, persistence, and learning from mistakes.

 

Failure is feedback. Growth-minded people use failure to improve, while fixed-minded people see it as proof of inadequacy.

 

Praise shapes mindset. Praising effort rather than intelligence encourages a growth mindset.

 

Applies to all areas of life: education, work, sports, relationships, and personal development.

 

# Conclusion

 

Dweck’s message is clear: Mindset can be changed. By recognizing and shifting toward a growth mindset, we unlock greater potential for learning, resilience, and success.

#quotes:

1.I divide the world into the learners and nonlearners.”

Validating yourself

1.      It’s one thing to pass up a puzzle. It’s another to pass up an opportunity

2.      Open mindset vs fixed mindset

3.      Students with the growth mindset seized the chance. But those with the fixed mindset didn’t want to expose their deficiencies.

4.      One person’s growth was the other person’s nightmare.

5.      People in a growth mindset don’t just seek challenge, they thrive on it.

6.      People with the growth mindset thrive when they’re stretching themselves. When do people with the fixed mindset thrive? When things are safely within their grasp. If things get too challenging—when they’re not feeling smart or talented—they lose interest.

7.      Get thrilled from what’s hard

8.      When NASA were soliciting applications for astronauts, they rejected people with pure histories of success and instead selected people who had had significant failures and bounced back from them.

9.      the students with the fixed mindset had higher levels of depression.

10.  failures don’t define them.

11.  erratic hare and the plodding but steady tortoise

12.   

 

 

Book Summary - " Mindset " - Carol D. Dweck (Eva Lin)

 

Carol S. Dweck’s book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” examines the idea of mindset and how it affects accomplishment and self-improvement. The fixed mindset and the development mindset are the two primary mindsets that Dweck presents. She illustrates how embracing a growth mindset may result in increased success, resilience, and life fulfillment through in-depth research and real-world experiences

 

Chapter 1: The Mindsets

In her introduction to the idea of mindsets, Dweck delineates the distinctions between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset. People who have a fixed mindset think that intelligence and ability are fixed attributes, whereas people who have a growth mindset think that talent can be developed with hard work and determination. Dweck talks about how these mindsets affect learning, relationships, and success, among other areas of life.

 

 

Chapter 2: Inside the Mindsets

Dweck goes into further detail on the traits of the development and fixed mindsets in this chapter. She looks at how people with each attitude deal with obstacles, failures, and criticism. In addition, Dweck explores how affirmation and criticism influence one’s perspective and provides techniques for developing a growth mindset.

 

Chapter 3: The Truth About Ability and Accomplishment

In this chapter, Dweck looks at the connection between achievement, ability, and mindset. She discusses study results that show people who have a growth mentality are more likely to overcome obstacles and have better results ultimately. Dweck questions the idea that success is solely determined by skill and places a strong emphasis on perseverance and hard work.

 

Chapter 4: Sports: The Mindset of a Champion

Sports-related examples are used by Dweck to highlight how mentality affects athletic performance. She talks on the differences between athletes with a fixed mindset and those with a growth mindset in terms of how they approach practice, competition, and setbacks. Dweck highlights the importance of drive, perseverance, and coachability in achieving success in sports.

 

Chapter 5: Business: Mindset and Leadership

 

Dweck examines the effects of attitude on leadership and the performance of organizations in this chapter. She talks about how growth-minded executives encourage innovation, teamwork, and ongoing development in their workplaces. Dweck also looks at how mentality affects judgment, taking calculated risks, and flexibility in the workplace.

 

Chapter 6: Relationships: Mindsets in Love (or Not)

Dweck looks into how thinking affects interpersonal dynamics and romantic partnerships. She investigates the attitudes that people have toward communication, conflict, and love. Dweck provides information on how embracing a growth mindset can result in happier, more satisfying relationships based on empathy, mutual respect, and trust.

 

Chapter 7: Parents, Teachers, and Coaches: Where Do Mindsets Come From?

Dweck addresses the influence of coaches, instructors, and parents on attitude development in this chapter. She looks at how expectations, praise, and criticism can affect kids’ perceptions of their own intelligence. Dweck provides useful tactics that parents, educators, and coaches may use to help kids develop a growth mindset and a love of learning.

 

Chapter 8: Changing Mindsets

In the book’s conclusion, Dweck explores methods for encouraging others and oneself to adopt a growth mindset. In order to cultivate a development mindset, she highlights the significance of self-awareness, self-reflection, and intentional practice. Dweck also discusses typical barriers to changing one’s thinking and provides advice on how to get beyond them.

 

 

 

Carol S. Dweck’s book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success” provides insightful information about how attitude influences success, resiliency, and personal development. Dweck illustrates how embracing a growth mindset may result in increased achievement and fulfillment across a range of life domains using engaging research and real-world examples. Through its useful techniques and inspirational message, “Mindset” encourages readers to rise to the occasion, develop resilience, and realize their greatest potential.

 

“MINDSET”- DISCUSSION QUESTIONS

 

1. How did your parents and/or teachers praise you as you were growing up? Did they tell you how “smart” you were or did they focus on how hard you worked? How do you praise others? They praise me for my work, and I also try to learn to praise others in the same way. However, I’m not a good learner. Sometimes my kids feel that my compliments sound fake. I also don’t seem to learn much from others’ encouragement. I appear shallow because I have trouble accepting negative opinions about myself — when people criticize me, I feel upset. Recently I learned from meditation more to accept all the feeling and admit my trying in peaceful mind, it really helps me think more positive and keep going.

 

2. Is there someone in your life (a parent, teacher, friend, boss) with a fixed mindset , someone who won’t take risks, who can’t admit mistakes, who falls apart or gets defensive after setbacks? Do you understand that person better now? I notice similar situations around me, and they serve as mirrors, reminding me to keep learning and growing together with others.

3.     Was there a difficult transition in your life where you fell into a fixed mindset and lost confidence in your abilities? Describe it. I fell into this swirl, and the only way to escape is to keep learning — to swim faster so I don’t get trapped.

4.     Can you think of a time you faced an important opportunity or challenge with a fixed mindset? What were your thoughts and worries – about your abilities? About other people’s judgments? About the possibility of failure? Describe them vividly.

Grow Your Mindset: Now, can you take that same opportunity or challenge and switch into a growth mindset? Think of it as a chance to learn new things. What are the plans and strategies you’re thinking about now? Learning has always been my best policy; it’s the only weapon that can make you stronger and help you face all challenges.

5.     Think of times other people outdid you and you just assumed they were smarter or more talented.

Grow Your Mindset: Now consider the idea that they just used better strategies, taught themselves more, practiced harder, and worked their way through obstacles. You can do that too, if you want to. I couldn’t agree more — for all the swans that swim gracefully, they’ve put in a lot of effort. There’s no such thing as a free lunch in life.

6.     Is there something in your past that you think measured you? A test score? A callous action? Being fired from a job? Being rejected. Focus on that thing.

Grow Your Mindset: Now put it in a growth-mindset perspective. Look honestly at your role in it, but understand that it doesn’t define your intelligence or your personality or anything else about you. Instead, as: What did I (or can I) learn from that experience?How can I use it as a basis for growth? Carry that with you. We learn from our mistakes — it’s the cheapest tuition we’ll ever pay in life.

7.     How do you respond to “constructive criticism”?

Grow Your Mindset: Remember that constructive criticism is feedback that helps you (and others) understand how to fix something. It’s not feedback that labels something in deficient. Us the constructive feedback to improve, even if you believe you’ve already done your best work. I learned to write good deeds diary: event,cause,other’s point of view, what you want to say and you hold it back, other’s good deeds. Your good deeds. After second thought, everything will turn out to have a better result.

 

8.     Are you a person who tends to avoid responsibility for your problems or failures by making excuses or blaming others?

Grow Your Mindset: Think of specific examples and discuss how you could use a growth mindset to take responsibility and start to correct the problems you face.

The best way is to face it, deal with it and let it go, be kind to yourself and others, keep smile and have a peaceful mind.

9.     What does a growth mindset look like in your current challenge?" to write the Good Deed Diary, Meditation, and Buddhism Study

 

WAYS TO DEVELOP A GROWTH MINDSET

 

1. Acknowledge and embrace imperfections.

Hiding from your weaknesses means you’ll never overcome them.

2. View challenges as opportunities.

Having a growth mindset means relishing opportunities for self-improvement.

3. Try different learning tactics.

There’s no one-size-fits-all model for learning. What works for one person may not work for you. Learn about learning strategies

(http://www.opencolleges.edu.au/informed/learning-strateiges/).

4. Follow the research on brain plasticity.

The brain isn’t fixed; the mind shouldn’t be either.

5. Replace the word “failing” with the word “learning”.

When you make a mistake or fall short of a goal, you haven’t failed; you’ve learned.

6. Stop seeking approval.

When you prioritize approval over learning, you sacrifice your own potential for growth.

7. Value the process over the end result.

Intelligent people enjoy the learning process, and don’t mind when it continues beyond an expected time frame.

8. Cultivate a sense of purpose.

Dweck’s research also showed that students with a growth mindset had a greater sense of purpose. Keep the big picture in mind.

9. Celebrate growth with others.

If you truly appreciate growth, you’ll want to share your progress with others.

10. Emphasize growth over speed.

Learning fast isn’t the same as learning well, and learning well sometimes requires

allowing time for mistakes.

11. Reward actions, not traits.

Tell others when they’re doing something smart, not just being smart.

12. Redefine “genius.”

The myth’s been busted: genius requires hard work, not talent alone.13. Portray criticism as positive.

You don’t have to use that hackneyed term “constructive criticism” but you do have to believe in the concept.

14. Disassociate improvement from failure.

Stop assuming that “room for improvement” translates into failure.

15. Provide regular opportunities for reflection.

Reflect on your learning every day.

16. Place effort before talent.

Hard work should always be rewarded before inherent skill.

17. Highlight the relationship between learning and “brain training”.

The brain is like a muscle that needs to be worked out, just like the body.

18. Cultivate grit.

19. Abandon the image.

“Naturally smart” sounds just about as believable as “spontaneous generation”. You

won’t achieve the image if you’re not ready for the work.

20. Use the word “yet”.

Dweck says “not yet” has become one of her favorite phrases.

21. Learn from other peoples’ mistakes.

It’s not always wise to compare yourself to others, but it is important to realize that

humans share the same weaknesses.

22. Make a new goal for every goal accomplished.

You’ll never be done learning. Just because your midterm exam is over doesn’t mean

you should stop being interested in a subject. Growth-minded people know how to

constantly create new goals to keep themselves stimulated.

23. Take risks in the company of others.

Stop trying to save face all the time and just let yourself goof up now and then. It will

make it easier to take risks in the future.

24. Think realistically about time and effort.

It takes time to learn.

25. Take ownership over your attitude.

Do you use feeling bad as a reason for doing nothing? When you feel disappointed,

thwarted, cheated, or depressed do you use this a s reason to stop trying?

Grow Your Mindset: What steps could you take to help growth mindset thinking

overcome your fixed mindset? Discuss a specific plan.1. 2. 3. 4. 5. SOME GROWTH-MINDSET PRACTICES

Think about a time during the past week when you were faced with an academic or social or personal challenge. Determine if you faced that challenge with a growth mindset or a fixed mindset?

How do you know?

If you faced the challenge with a fixed mindset, how might you have approached it

differently?

Reflect on real-life examples of the use of a growth mindset (by you or someone you

know). Do some journaling or free writing about this example. Try to explain how the

growth mindset helped you (or someone you know) to solve a problem or to achieve a goal.

Be specific. challenge? Save your writing.

What did you think and/or do that allowed you to push through the

After engaging in #2 multiple times, read through your free-writing. Are there

similarities in what you did each time? What you thought each time? Is there a pattern you can identify?

Again, be specific. Try to identify specific thinking patterns and behavioral patterns that exemplify the growth mindset. Remember these when you face a new challenge.

Think of something about yourself you’ve been wanting to change. What is it? Has a

fixed mindset prevented you from doing this?

Think about it from a growth mindset and spell out a concrete plan for change.

When you’re feeling stuck, remember . . . . . . THE POWER OF “Yet”

6. Remember to:

* focus on effort, struggle, & persistence despite setbacks

* choose difficult tasks

* focus on strategies

* reflect on different strategies that work and don’t work

* focus on learning and improving

* seek challenges

* work hard

(as found on ESU web-page, Developing a Growth Mindset)25 WAYS TO DEVELOP A

 

Overview by our consultant Clive

Our meeting today was led by Ava Lin, as we explored Carol Dweck’s groundbreaking distinction between the fixed and growth mindsets.  These two belief systems profoundly influence learning, motivation, and relationships.  Ava emphasized how mindset is not just theory but a practical lens for understanding ourselves and others. 

Members noted how childhood praise shapes self-perception. Praise for effort and strategy fosters resilience and curiosity, while praise for intelligence or talent often creates fear of failure. This echoed Dweck’s finding that “effort-based praise builds confidence that endures beyond setbacks.”  Many identified colleagues, students, or family members who resist change or take criticism personally, and Ava herself mentioned her resistance to studying law because she thought it would be too challenging to study law in the USA in English.  The group agreed that understanding the fixed mindset can inspire empathy, seeing defensiveness as fear, not arrogance.  Lydia shared experiences of self-doubt career transitions and decisions during her years in business. Reframing failure as “not yet” rather than “never” is a powerful tool for renewal. Growth, we all agreed, is emotional as well as intellectual. Members reflected on our responses to criticism or failure, with Emma and Florence talking about business and setbacks.  Angela brought it back to family relations and feedback from family.  It was also rewarding to have Vikki and Alice join the conversation today

Memorable Quote

“Why waste time proving how great you are when you could be getting better?” – Carol S. Dweck

Consensus

The meeting ended with a shared sense of purpose: to transform setbacks into lessons, effort into identity, and feedback into growth. The growth mindset isn’t naïve optimism….it’s disciplined hope grounded in self-awareness and persistence.

 

 

 

Anne Tyler – French Braid

Book Club Summary and Discussion Questions for December

Summary

Anne Tyler’s French Braid traces six decades in the life of the Garrett family of Baltimore, showing how love, habit, and misunderstanding weave people together long after they drift apart. The story opens in the summer of 1959, when Robin and Mercy Garrett take their three children on their only family vacation. Robin wants order and tradition; Mercy quietly longs to breathe, to paint, to become more than a wife. Their daughters, Alice and Lily, are opposites—Alice responsible and watchful, Lily impulsive and changeable—while their youngest, David, is a self-contained boy who prefers silence to argument. During that week by the lake, tiny cracks appear in the family pattern—nothing dramatic, yet they signal the slow loosening of the braid

thatbindsthem.

As the years pass, those faint lines of separation deepen. Mercy moves her painting supplies into a studio across town and, almost without notice, begins sleeping there. Robin continues his predictable routines, puzzled by how quietly his family has changed. Alice becomes a steady mother and the keeper of family memories; Lily moves from relationship to relationship, chasing warmth and excitement; David detaches from the family almost completely, building a life defined by distance. Still, each of them carries the imprint of the others—the invisible pull of shared history.

Tyler follows them through marriages, deaths, holidays, and brief reunions, all rendered with her characteristic calm precision. There are no villains, no melodramas—only ordinary choices that shape a lifetime. The novel’s title becomes its metaphor: when you undo a French braid, the hair still holds the waves of its weave. Likewise, even when families appear separate, the pattern of connection remains.

By the final chapters, set in the 2020s, a new generation of Garretts navigates a modern world, yet echoes of Robin and Mercy still ripple through them. Tyler suggests that family is never something we escape; it is something we continue to carry—sometimes lightly, sometimes with weight, always marked by the touch of those who came before.

Discussion Questions

1. What does the image of a French braid tell us about the way family connections work over time?

2. How does Tyler use small, everyday moments instead of big events to show change in the Garretts’ lives?

3. Why does Mercy slowly separate herself from the household, and do you see her as selfish or courageous?

4. How do the three Garrett children—Alice, Lily, and David—represent different responses to the same upbringing?

5. In what ways does Robin embody an older kind of masculinity, and how does that shape his marriage?

6. The novel covers sixty years. How does time itself act as a character or force within the story?

7. Tyler often writes about ordinary people. What makes the everyday details in this novel feel meaningful?

8. What role does silence play in the Garrett family? Are there things left unsaid that hold them together or keep them apart?

9. How do later generations reflect—or resist—the patterns set by their parents and grandparents?

10. After finishing the novel, what do you think Anne Tyler wants readers to understand about love, habit, and the quiet endurance of family?