[caption id="attachment_752" align="alignnone" width="194"] Mindset: The New Psychology of Success[/caption]

Is there a genius? A natural born athlete? One is born with certain talent and they were destined to do this in their life?

This year I have been lucky enough to read a really good book on productivity and listen to a really good podcast on taking back control on my digital life.  I got lucky again when I got a copy of Mindset by Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D.

In Mindset, Dr. Dweck debunked the myth of genius, born athlete, or born talent. Dr. Dweck discourage putting these label to anyone because it limits their ability to grow.

There are two types of mindset we can practice in. A fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

A fixed mindset person believes in genius, born athlete, or born talent. It is dangerous to have a fixed mindset because one will think that their ability to learn is born with. It will go well if a fixed mindset person continues to succeed in their work, but once they faced obstacle, they might stop taking the challenge. It is because they think it's not meant to be their work to find a solution since their "born" genius cannot find a solution, therefore, someone else with such "born" genius will find a solution.

In a growth mindset, there is no "born" ability. It's just practice and learning. By knowing that succeeding at one stage of life does not mean future success is guaranteed. A growth mindset person will continue to learn new things and continue to find a solution to a problem or challenge they receive.

As a parent, we can guide our children to have a growth mindset when they grow. The following are some of the points that I thought are important.

• Encourage a child's effort, not their ability.
• Prepare them to be able to take criticism.
• When a child succeed in a task, praise their process on taking on the challenge, not praise that they are smart.

In Mindset, it also discuss on how to be a better leader at work, a better athlete, and a better teacher at school. I am really glad that I picked up this book and I highly recommend anyone to read it.