STUDY: When It Comes to Success, Attitude is More Important than IQ

A new research conducted by psychologist Carol Dweck has revealed that attitude plays a more important role when it comes to an individual’s success.

While many of us attribute success to an individual’s IQ level, Dweck, who focused on studying attitude and performance, thinks that a person’s attitude is a better predictor of success compared to IQ.

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Classifying people’s core attitudes into two categories, Dweck said that people either have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.

When a person has a fixed mindset, he or she may find it difficult to face challenges since anything that seems more than they can handle will soon make them feel hopeless and overwhelmed. This is because they believe that they are who they are and that they cannot change.

On the other hand, people with a growth mindset accept challenges and consider them as an opportunity to learn something new. Because of this mindset, they outperform people with a fixed mindset, even those with higher IQ.

Success in life, Dweck believes, depends on how you deal with adversities and failures.

“Failure is information—we label it failure, but it’s more like, ‘This didn’t work, and I’m a problem solver, so I’ll try something else,’” Dweck said about how people with growth mindset approach failure.

How to Develop a Growth Mindset

According to an article by Travis Bradberry for Business Insider, there are several strategies you can employ to develop a growth mindset. Here are some of them:

1. Don’t succumb to feelings of helplessness.

Successful people such as Oprah Winfrey, Henry Ford, Walt Disney and Steven Spielberg were rejected at one point in their lives yet they didn’t give in to feelings of helplessness.

2. Find your truest passions using the 5/25 technique.

According to Warren Buffet, you can identify your truest passions by writing down the 25 things you care about the most. By crossing out the bottom 20, you can eliminate distractions and discover your true passions.

3.  Overcome fear and anxiety by taking action.

Transform all your worries and concerns about failure into something positive by stepping up and taking action as soon as possible.

4.  Give it your all.

Even on your worst days, push yourself to go the extra mile and give it your all. Don’t limit yourself and try to go beyond what’s possible.

5. Flex until you get results.

Instead of holding back, flex until you get your expected results when faced with a challenging situation.

6. Avoid complaining.

There’s no room for complaints for people with a fixed mindset. Challenges should be treated as opportunities.

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