Some more difficult and some less.

What matters is how we look at the problems we face.

Are we looking with a fixed, or a growth mindset?

A fixed mindset is thinking your abilities are carved in stone.

It's a belief that you can't change who you are and that you're stuck with whatever genetics

and surroundings offered you.

Failing means you're not reaching your potential.

On the other hand, a growth mindset is thinking you can improve and develop over time.

It's knowing that your genetics and surroundings don't define who you are, and that you can

always improve yourself.

Failure and setbacks give you growth and learning potential.

Let me introduce you to a story of twin brothers and their father.

In a study on alcoholism, scientists found a particularly interesting pair of identical

twin brothers who had an alcoholic father.

Despite their identical genes and their presumably similar environments, they took a different

path from one another.

One of the twins grew up to become an alcoholic, a homeless bum on the street.

But the other twin was as a successful businessman, who never took a sip of alcohol in his entire life.

So they interviewed them both, hoping for insight as to why they ended up so different.

The alcoholic son told them: “Well, I grew up with an alcoholic father.

Alcohol was in the house all the time and I saw my dad drinking.

So I guess it was natural enough that I became an alcoholic, too”.

The son who was a businessman said: “Well, I grew up with an alcoholic father.

Alcohol was in the house all the time and I saw my dad drinking.

So I guess it was natural enough that I swore I would never be like that, and so I don’t drink!”.

The twins started in the same place, with the same circumstances.

However, the path they chose was different as a result of their mindset.

The alcoholic twin looked at his father with a fixed mindset.

He thought that because of his fathers influence as an alcoholic, he will become one as well.

He was sure that his future was sealed and so he didn't even stop to think, that maybe

this could be a learning experience, on what he shouldn't become.

The successful twin was looking at his father with a growth mindset.

Just like his brother, he was also influenced by his father, but he saw the problems it

was causing.

And unlike his brother, he saw it as a learning experience of what he didn't want to become.

An alcoholic.

So he decided to act on it and he went down a very different road compared to his father

and brother.

We can’t control the circumstances and we don’t always get to choose what happens

to us or around us.

But we can try our best to put ourselves in the growth mindset every time we face a challenge

or a setback.

After all, mindsets are just beliefs.

They're powerful beliefs, but with enough dedication you can change them over time.

Just knowing about the growth mindset and reminding yourself that your intelligence

and skills can be developed over time, will yield amazing results.

Remember, we all have the power to choose.

So will you choose a fixed mindset?

Or a growth mindset?

That is up to you.