Limitless Mind: Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers

by Jo Boaler

Dweck’s research reveals that how we think about our talents and abilities has a profound impact on our potential.

It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all—in which case, you fail by default.

One of the reasons that it can be damaging to receive the gifted label is that you do not expect to struggle, and when you do, it is absolutely devastating.

concludes that the people regarded as geniuses—people like Einstein, Mozart, and Newton—“are made, not born,” and their success comes from extraordinary hard work.25

The times when we are struggling and making mistakes are the best times for brain growth.

“Mistakes grow your brain.”

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He proposes that people study events by collecting data; finding patterns, exceptions, and changes over time; recording events; and making maps, cross sections, and diagrams. He then shows the multiple ways to dig into data, including writing, diagramming, recording sound, making a list, counting and measuring, using data tools, and building a “curiosity kit,” which is filled with items such as a magnifying glass, a compass, and binoculars.

I have asked my daughter to only work on the first five questions, and I can see that she understands them. I have asked her not to complete this worksheet, because I do not want her to think this is what math is.

They are underachieving because they have the wrong approach to mathematics, thinking they need to use memorized methods. They have memorized counting strategies that they keep using, even when number sense would be much more helpful. They need, instead of being drilled, to engage with numbers flexibly and creatively. They need to approach numbers differently.

Grant concludes: “Although we rely on them to keep the world running smoothly, they keep us running on a treadmill.”17 Those who do go on to change the world are creative and flexible thinkers, people who think outside rather than inside the box.

Education is a system in which we need to challenge the status quo because it has failed so many.

“Whoever made a difference by being like everyone else?”

Despite the fears of some parents of high-achieving students, the students in this approach who improved the most in math achievement were the highest achievers.18 They increased their achievement more than other students at their school and more than the highest achievers in the other, traditional schools we studied. Their achievement gain came from their time explaining work to others—which is one of the best opportunities for students to understand more deeply themselves. An

Approaching content with uncertainty and vulnerability is a trait I also recommend to teachers I work with.

Admit to your children when you do not know something, but you have an idea for a way of finding out. Never pretend you know something that you do not.

practice taking a positive approach to mistakes, thinking about the positive outcomes that may emerge from them on a daily basis. Sometimes mistakes are benign, and they can easily be fixed. At other times they may have real and negative consequences—initially—although later positive outcomes often emerge. Mistakes are a part of life, and the more courageous your life choices, the more mistakes you will probably make.