I use Dweck’s definition – mindset is the view that you hold about your abilities and attributes. She defines two mindsets: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.

Fixed Mindset: the belief that you have a certain amount of an ability or attributes–perhaps high, perhaps low– and that there is little that you can do to change this.
Growth Mindset:  the belief that although you may start with a particular level of ability or attributes, you can increase your ability or develop your attributes.

Your mindset can have powerful effects on your success—-in achievement fields such as school, business, science and sports, but also in interpersonal spheres, such as forming and maintaining close relationships. 

Growth mindset: you take on more challenges, you’re more resilient in the face of difficulty (adapting and learning from mistakes) and you use other people as mentors or resources in order to develop your abilities or attributes.
Fixed mindset: you’re worried about your fixed abilities and attributes. Am I smart? Am I talented? Am I likable? Am I a loser? You arrange your world to avoid any unwanted answers to these questions. So, you choose safe or easy tasks, you run from setbacks, and avoid asking for help from others lest you seem to have deficiencies. 

It is simple on some level – adopt a growth mindset when you find yourself mired in a fixed mindset and reap all of the advantages of the growth mindset. Who wouldn’t want to do that? One problem is that fixed mindsets are sometimes hard to recognize. And even when you recognize that you are stuck in fixed mindset, regaining the growth mindset may not be that easy, even when you see the advantages. Just because you have an intellectual understanding of something, it doesn’t mean it’s easy to execute it. You may have an understanding that it is important to eat right, exercise and be mindful,  but that  doesn’t mean it’s easy to do so.

The fixed mindset is a habitual and non-helpful way of thinking about yourself and your abilities that gets in the way of attaining a life you value. It is not a pathology. I use CBT to help replace the fixed mindset habit with the growth mindset habit. 

Some people mainly have a growth mindset and some people mainly have a fixed mindset. Some people have a growth mindset in some areas of their life (for example career) but have a fixed mindset in other areas of their life (for example relationships). What’s key is that you can use the CBT skills described in this book to maintain a growth mindset in important areas of your life where you feel a bit stuck.

It may be the case that you always have a growth mindset. However, most people find that there are pockets of fixed mindset that insidiously get in the way of stretching themselves in ways that could enrich their lives. Without awareness the fixed mindset keeps them trapped in a place that feels safe but a bit boring.