Quotes About Achievement

There was a saying in the 1960s that went: "Becoming is better than being." The fixed mindset does not allow people the luxury of becoming. They have to already be.

Babe Ruth rose like a rocket." Through discipline. He also loved to practice.

People with the growth mindset know that it takes time for potential to flower.

But isn't potential someone's capacity to develop their skills with effort over time? And that's just the point. How can we know where effort and time will take someone? Who

People with the growth mindset, however, believe something very different. For them, even geniuses have to work hard for their achievements. And what's so heroic, they would say, about having a gift? They may appreciate endowment, but they admire effort, for no matter what your ability is, effort is what ignites that ability and turns it into accomplishment.

The idea that one evaluation can measure you forever is what creates the urgency for those with the fixed mindset. That's why they must succeed perfectly and immediately. Who can afford the luxury of trying to grow when everything is on the line right now?

And what's so heroic, they would say, about having a gift?

We don't care about who you are, what you're interested in, and what you can become. We don't care about learning. We will love and respect you only if you go to Harvard.

Think about effort as a positive constructive force, not as a big drag.

When you're lying on your deathbed, one of the cool things to say is, 'I really explored myself.' This sense of urgency was instilled when my mom died. If you only go through life doing stuff that's easy, shame on you.

On the whole, people with a fixed mindset prefer effortless success, since that's the best way to prove their talent.

For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value.

I looked for themes and underlying principles across lectures," and "I went over mistakes until I was certain I understood them." They were studying to learn, not just to ace the test. And, actually, this was why they got higher grades—not because they were smarter or had a better background in science.

George Dantzig was a graduate student in math at Berkeley. One day, as usual, he rushed in late to his math class and quickly copied the two homework problems from the blackboard. When he later went to do them, he found them very difficult, and it took him several days of hard work to crack them open and solve them. They turned out not to be homework problems at all. They were two famous math problems that had never been solved.

Beware of success. It can knock you into a fixed mindset: "I won because I have talent. Therefore I will keep winning." Success can infect a team or it can infect an individual.

Many growth-minded people didn't even plan to go to the top They got there as a result of doing what they love. It's ironic: The top is where the fixed-mindset people hunger to be, but it's where many growth-minded people arrive as a by-product of their enthusiasm for what they do.

When Jordan was cut from the varsity team, he was devastated. His mother says, "I told him to go back and discipline himself.

For thirty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value. How does this happen? How can a simple belief have the power to transform your psychology and, as a result, your life?

I've seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves—in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will I feel like a winner or a loser?

Wow, you got [say] eight right. That's a really good score. You must have worked really hard." They were not made to feel that they had some special gift; they were praised for doing what it takes to succeed.

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

Yesterday they were hotshots; today they're failures. Here's what happens. They look at the faculty with our long list of publications. "Oh my God, I can't do that." They look at the advanced students who are submitting articles for publication and writing grant proposals. "Oh my God, I can't do that." They know how to take tests and get A's but they don't know how to do this—yet. They forget the yet.

There is something about seeing myself improve that motivates and excites me.

they believe that a person's true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it's impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, toil, and training.