It’s a bit ironic, isn’t it? Albert Einstein — the man many consider to be the poster boy for super smarts — downplayed his intelligence in favor of work ethic.
On the other hand, there are people who are the exact opposite. They seem to always consider themselves the smartest person in the room, even though it’s clear to everyone else that they’re not even close.
My guess is this doesn’t apply to you. If you’re interested in personal development, you likely have a growth mindset, which reflects that you’re constantly evolving and improving.
On the other hand, we’ve talked about the dangers of a fixed mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe that they were born with innate attributes, talents, and intelligence … and that’s it.
In their view, they’re stuck with the hand they were dealt. This leads to the avoidance of challenges that might lead to failure, a refusal to try to improve, and in extreme cases, cheating and illegal behavior to compensate.
New research reveals that it’s even worse than that. People with a fixed (or innate) mindset think they’re smarter than they really are, ironically, due to their own avoidance of real challenges.
- “The researchers found that people who believe in fixed intelligence are prone to working hardest at easy problems, neglecting the hard ones, and that they came away from this experience with an overestimation of their own intelligence.”
Sound like anyone you know?
You grow by doing the hard stuff, by constantly learning — not by avoiding new challenges. All it takes to shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is the realization that nothing about you is truly fixed.
Unfortunately, good luck trying to convince someone with a fixed mindset of that … they think they’re smarter than you. 🙂
Study: People who believe in innate intelligence overestimate their own
Keep going-
Brian Clark
Further
further: health
Tricky Math
Think meticulous calorie counting means knowing exactly how much breakfast you’re burning during exercise? Unfortunately, it’s more complicated than that. Here are four reasons why daily activity tracking and exercise counts can be problematic in one nifty infographic.
The Surprising Problem with Calorie Counting [Infographic]
Burn Rate
One of the reasons it’s so hard to accurately count calories and estimate your burn rate depends on your metabolic rate. Here are 10 easy ways to increase your metabolism, backed by solid science.
10 Easy Ways to Boost Your Metabolism (Backed by Science)
Intentional Nutrition
Here’s a great two-part series from Nerd Fitness on meal planning. You’ll get both the why and the how.
further: wealth
Innovate Your Pay Rate
Drawing on Dave Ulmer’s work in The Innovator’s Extinction, here are three key lessons that characterize Apple veteran Kelli Richards’ experience at the company (and are more relevant than ever today).
Three Lessons On Innovation I Learned During My 12 Years At Apple
Bond … Savings Bond
Bonds have a few attributes which, on their own, may seem obvious and even irrelevant. However, when you put them together, you begin to understand why the wealthiest individuals and financial powerhouses prefer bonds over equities (stocks).
In Search of Low-Risk Investments – 11 Things to Know About Bonds
Credit Risk
Even if you’re not getting collections calls just yet, that doesn’t mean you don’t have a problem. If any of these five signs apply to you, it could mean you’re relying too much on your credit cards, and you need to do something before the situation gets out of hand.
4 Signs You’re Abusing Your Credit Cards
further: wisdom
I Don’t Like Mondays
Yes, I know it’s Tuesday, but these tips apply to every morning, not just Mondays. From personal experience, I can say that the best combined advice is to get up as early as you can while still getting enough sleep. You can develop other great habits from there.
How Successful People Spend Monday Mornings
Happy Habits
We’re taught that working hard will lead to a great success and finally result in happiness. But happiness experts say our formula is wrong. They argue being happy first is what causes us to do great work and have great successes.
Four Daily Habits That Will Make You Happier
A Zesty Enterprise
Zest, which means approaching life enthusiastically, as an adventure, is among the 24 character strengths that positive psychologists have defined and studied as keys to living a happy and fulfilling life. Another one is making Big Lebowski references in your newsletter subheads.
Four Reasons to Cultivate Zest in Life
further: sharing
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