Talent Isn’t Fixed and Other Mindsets That Lead to Greatness. In the creative world, we spend a lot of time talking about “talent.”
It’s that special sauce—a certain style, a certain perspective, a certain aesthetic. If you’ve got it, you’ve got it. And if you don’t, well… it can’t really be taught, right? Not exactly. According to Stanford University’s Carol Dweck, the psychologist behind the much-praised book Mindset: The New Psychology for Success, the attitude that we bring to our creative work—and to mentoring our juniors—can play a huge role in shaping just how much of our inborn talents we realize. If we believe that someone’s talent is fixed—including our own—we are effectively writing off any options for growth. I chatted with Dweck to learn more about how a “growth mindset” can impact creative achievement on a personal and a professional level. When we’re children, we think we can do anything. It can actually stop as soon as we become conscious of ourselves.
It makes you afraid of being judged. Carol Dweck. Inside the Reddit AMA: The Interview Revolution That Has Everyone Talking. Stone and stone wheel. Shut up! Announcing your plans makes you less motivated to accomplish them. Shouldn't you announce your goals, so friends can support you?
Isn't it good networking to tell people about your upcoming projects? Doesn't the “law of attraction” mean you should state your intention, and visualize the goal as already yours? Nope. Tests done since 1933 show that people who talk about their intentions are less likely to make them happen. Announcing your plans to others satisfies your self-identity just enough that you're less motivated to do the hard work needed. In 1933, W. NYU psychology professor Peter Gollwitzer has been studying this since his 1982 book “Symbolic Self-Completion” (pdf article here) - and recently published results of new tests in a research article, “When Intentions Go Public: Does Social Reality Widen the Intention-Behavior Gap?” Four different tests of 63 people found that those who kept their intentions private were more likely to achieve them than those who made them public and were acknowledged by others. Dance your Powerpoint or PhD.
Sweden Is Lending The Country's Twitter To Citizens. In a weird but awesome move, Sweden has started a campaign where its official Twitter account, @sweden, will be taken over and operated by a different Swede every week.
The project is called “Curators of Sweden” and operates under the idea that “No one owns the brand of Sweden more than its people. With this initiative we let them show their Sweden to the world,” as said by Thomas Brühl, the CEO of the national tourism agency VisitSweden. That’s a nice sentiment, right? But surely they must assert some level of control over each operator. In short, no. From a quick look at the feed, you can see that the operators pretty much given free reign to say what they like. The current operator is Jack, a writer and marketer based in Stockholm, and those in line after him promise some variety. (via The Next Web) Reasons to be interested in Sweden. DAYTUM. Nicholas Felton.