Question
We all go through tough times personally and professionally. Hardship and failure are inevitable. You will get tossed off the horse. What does it take for you to get back on?
When you cultivate and build resilience, you gain the ability to bounce back and try again with more experience and wisdom. Make no mistake, it is a muscle that we develop rather than a quality that we are born with. Improving our ability to handle adversity allows us to empathize with others, lead better, as well as propel our career to new levels and live a happier life.
Check your mindset.
Do you have a fixed mindset in which you believe that your intelligence, talents and personality are set in stone? Or do you have a growth mindset, which believes these are things that you can cultivate and develop further throughout your life?
For 20 years, Stanford University Psychologist, Carol Dweck has been dedicated to demystifying the power of mindset. Her work includes several studies that have shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life (not to mention, how you lead others). It can determine whether you are willing to take risks and try new things and strive to become the person you aspire to be.
Fixed vs. growth mindset
In one of Dweck’s early studies, she gave kindergarten students a questionnaire to determine which ones were predisposed to a fixed versus growth mindset. She then gave them all a very easy math problem. They all solved it correctly.
When she asked each group if they wanted to try a harder math problem, the fixed-mindset kids said, “Ummm….no thanks. I’m good.” Whereas the growth mindset kids enthusiastically said, “Sure!” Some got it right and some didn’t. She continued to offer increasingly difficult math problems, and the growth-mindset kids continued to take on the harder problem.
Essentially, the fixed-mindset kids said, “no,” because they didn’t want to risk getting the harder problem wrong, which would either make them feel stupid, look bad or prove that, despite what their parents have told them, they are not that smart after all.
The growth-mindset kids didn’t care about this. They were inherently more curious and interested in the learning, even if they failed. And when they did fail, they did not internalize the failure and take it as a statement about how good or smart they are.
The growth-mindset kids were inherently more resilient. These kids saw the math problems as an opportunity to learn, rather than a litmus test of their personal value. They weren’t concerned about looking bad or feeling stupid. They were interested in the learning and were able to get better with practice or effort. They did not see their intelligence or abilities as fixed.
A fixed mindset creates the need to prove oneself. Deficiencies must be hidden since they can’t be developed. Failure is to be avoided at all costs.
Overcome fear of failure
By contrast, a growth mindset sees failure as an opportunity to learn. Consider what Michael Jordan famously said, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot…and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s precisely why I succeed.”
THIS is the growth mindset. Knowing that failure is an inherent part of growth and development, and not only being ok with it, but also being open, curious and eager to learn from those failures.
There are many examples of people who overcame failure and setbacks via dedication and hard work. Michael Jordan didn’t make his high school varsity basketball team on the first try. Winston Churchill failed the entrance exams for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst—twice.
Photographer Cindy Sherman, widely considered one the most important artists of the 20th century, failed her first photography course. Meryl Streep, who just won a lifetime achievement award for acting, was told she was too ugly for a part in King Kong when she was an unknown 27-year-old actor.
How to cultivate resilience with a growth mindset
What does a growth mindset get you? Dweck’s research suggests that it will help you succeed over the long haul. It’s a critical element of resilience, and it will help you weather challenging times.
Cultivating a growth mindset is like learning a new language. You’ve got to work at it every day, but with practice, it becomes more natural and, eventually, you become fluent. It’s worth saying that we can approach certain experiences or parts of ourselves with a growth mindset, but other experiences with a fixed mindset.
Learning to recognize your mindset in any given situation and cultivate a growth perspective is a valuable skill and a conscious choice. If you catch yourself in a fixed mindset, you can simply decide to change it.
What is the main idea of the article?
A. Growth mindset is better than a fixed mindset because you can learn from your mistakes.
B. Fixed mindset is when you have a fear of failure that you can't overcome, while a growth mindset is the opposite of that.
C. People who persevere when they face challenges are more resilient because they develop a growth mindset to learn from their mistakes.
D. People are born with a certain type of mindset, a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. It determines how successful they will be throughout their lives.
Which sentence from the article best supports the text's main idea?
A. "For 20 years, Stanford University Psychologist, Carol Dweck has been dedicated to demystifying the power of mindset." (Paragraph 4)
B. "These kids saw the math problems as an opportunity to learn, rather than a litmus test of their personal value. They weren't concerned about looking bad or feeling stupid." (Paragraph 9)
C. "A fixed mindset creates the need to prove oneself. Deficiencies must be hidden since they can't be developed. Failure is to be avoided at all costs." (Paragraph 10)
D. "Cultivating a growth mindset is like learning a new language. You've got to work at it every day, but with practice, it becomes more natural and, eventually, you become fluent." (Paragraph 16)
Which statement best describes the relationship between resilience and a muscle?
A. Resilience is an actual muscle that gets stronger and develops over time.
B. Resilience is something that can grow and develop over time, just like muscles.
C. Resilience works like a muscle, it contracts and expands when you face challenges.
D. Resilience and muscles are opposites. You are born with resilience, while you develop muscles over time.
How does the section "Check your mindset." contribute to the author's idea of growth and fixed mindset?
A. It supports the science behind growth mindset.
B. It helps parents learn how to encourage their kids.
C. It argues against Carol Dweck's theories about mindset.
D. It reminds individuals that they are in control of their mindset.
When you cultivate and build resilience, you gain the ability to bounce back and try again with more experience and wisdom. Make no mistake, it is a muscle that we develop rather than a quality that we are born with. Improving our ability to handle adversity allows us to empathize with others, lead better, as well as propel our career to new levels and live a happier life.
Check your mindset.
Do you have a fixed mindset in which you believe that your intelligence, talents and personality are set in stone? Or do you have a growth mindset, which believes these are things that you can cultivate and develop further throughout your life?
For 20 years, Stanford University Psychologist, Carol Dweck has been dedicated to demystifying the power of mindset. Her work includes several studies that have shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life (not to mention, how you lead others). It can determine whether you are willing to take risks and try new things and strive to become the person you aspire to be.
Fixed vs. growth mindset
In one of Dweck’s early studies, she gave kindergarten students a questionnaire to determine which ones were predisposed to a fixed versus growth mindset. She then gave them all a very easy math problem. They all solved it correctly.
When she asked each group if they wanted to try a harder math problem, the fixed-mindset kids said, “Ummm….no thanks. I’m good.” Whereas the growth mindset kids enthusiastically said, “Sure!” Some got it right and some didn’t. She continued to offer increasingly difficult math problems, and the growth-mindset kids continued to take on the harder problem.
Essentially, the fixed-mindset kids said, “no,” because they didn’t want to risk getting the harder problem wrong, which would either make them feel stupid, look bad or prove that, despite what their parents have told them, they are not that smart after all.
The growth-mindset kids didn’t care about this. They were inherently more curious and interested in the learning, even if they failed. And when they did fail, they did not internalize the failure and take it as a statement about how good or smart they are.
The growth-mindset kids were inherently more resilient. These kids saw the math problems as an opportunity to learn, rather than a litmus test of their personal value. They weren’t concerned about looking bad or feeling stupid. They were interested in the learning and were able to get better with practice or effort. They did not see their intelligence or abilities as fixed.
A fixed mindset creates the need to prove oneself. Deficiencies must be hidden since they can’t be developed. Failure is to be avoided at all costs.
Overcome fear of failure
By contrast, a growth mindset sees failure as an opportunity to learn. Consider what Michael Jordan famously said, “I have missed more than 9,000 shots in my career. I have lost almost 300 games. On 26 occasions I have been entrusted to take the game winning shot…and I missed. I have failed over and over and over again in my life. And that’s precisely why I succeed.”
THIS is the growth mindset. Knowing that failure is an inherent part of growth and development, and not only being ok with it, but also being open, curious and eager to learn from those failures.
There are many examples of people who overcame failure and setbacks via dedication and hard work. Michael Jordan didn’t make his high school varsity basketball team on the first try. Winston Churchill failed the entrance exams for the Royal Military College at Sandhurst—twice.
Photographer Cindy Sherman, widely considered one the most important artists of the 20th century, failed her first photography course. Meryl Streep, who just won a lifetime achievement award for acting, was told she was too ugly for a part in King Kong when she was an unknown 27-year-old actor.
How to cultivate resilience with a growth mindset
What does a growth mindset get you? Dweck’s research suggests that it will help you succeed over the long haul. It’s a critical element of resilience, and it will help you weather challenging times.
Cultivating a growth mindset is like learning a new language. You’ve got to work at it every day, but with practice, it becomes more natural and, eventually, you become fluent. It’s worth saying that we can approach certain experiences or parts of ourselves with a growth mindset, but other experiences with a fixed mindset.
Learning to recognize your mindset in any given situation and cultivate a growth perspective is a valuable skill and a conscious choice. If you catch yourself in a fixed mindset, you can simply decide to change it.
What is the main idea of the article?
A. Growth mindset is better than a fixed mindset because you can learn from your mistakes.
B. Fixed mindset is when you have a fear of failure that you can't overcome, while a growth mindset is the opposite of that.
C. People who persevere when they face challenges are more resilient because they develop a growth mindset to learn from their mistakes.
D. People are born with a certain type of mindset, a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. It determines how successful they will be throughout their lives.
Which sentence from the article best supports the text's main idea?
A. "For 20 years, Stanford University Psychologist, Carol Dweck has been dedicated to demystifying the power of mindset." (Paragraph 4)
B. "These kids saw the math problems as an opportunity to learn, rather than a litmus test of their personal value. They weren't concerned about looking bad or feeling stupid." (Paragraph 9)
C. "A fixed mindset creates the need to prove oneself. Deficiencies must be hidden since they can't be developed. Failure is to be avoided at all costs." (Paragraph 10)
D. "Cultivating a growth mindset is like learning a new language. You've got to work at it every day, but with practice, it becomes more natural and, eventually, you become fluent." (Paragraph 16)
Which statement best describes the relationship between resilience and a muscle?
A. Resilience is an actual muscle that gets stronger and develops over time.
B. Resilience is something that can grow and develop over time, just like muscles.
C. Resilience works like a muscle, it contracts and expands when you face challenges.
D. Resilience and muscles are opposites. You are born with resilience, while you develop muscles over time.
How does the section "Check your mindset." contribute to the author's idea of growth and fixed mindset?
A. It supports the science behind growth mindset.
B. It helps parents learn how to encourage their kids.
C. It argues against Carol Dweck's theories about mindset.
D. It reminds individuals that they are in control of their mindset.
Answers
GPT-4o mini
1. **What is the main idea of the article?**
- **C. People who persevere when they face challenges are more resilient because they develop a growth mindset to learn from their mistakes.**
2. **Which sentence from the article best supports the text's main idea?**
- **B. "These kids saw the math problems as an opportunity to learn, rather than a litmus test of their personal value. They weren't concerned about looking bad or feeling stupid." (Paragraph 9)**
3. **Which statement best describes the relationship between resilience and a muscle?**
- **B. Resilience is something that can grow and develop over time, just like muscles.**
4. **How does the section "Check your mindset." contribute to the author's idea of growth and fixed mindset?**
- **D. It reminds individuals that they are in control of their mindset.**
- **C. People who persevere when they face challenges are more resilient because they develop a growth mindset to learn from their mistakes.**
2. **Which sentence from the article best supports the text's main idea?**
- **B. "These kids saw the math problems as an opportunity to learn, rather than a litmus test of their personal value. They weren't concerned about looking bad or feeling stupid." (Paragraph 9)**
3. **Which statement best describes the relationship between resilience and a muscle?**
- **B. Resilience is something that can grow and develop over time, just like muscles.**
4. **How does the section "Check your mindset." contribute to the author's idea of growth and fixed mindset?**
- **D. It reminds individuals that they are in control of their mindset.**