Fixed or growth mindset — which do you have?

    We live in an uncertain world with all the technological advances we are experiencing， which meanse is a requirement for a change in midset (思维模式）. In order to be on top of our game both personally and organizationally, we need to develop a growth mindset.

    A fixed mindset supposes that you have native abilities and are naturally clever or skilled in certain areas of life. When you receive infonnation about how you have performed in a test or set of tasks t you may worry about how you are judged. Our parents probably said to us when we were young,"Since you scored really well in the test, you must  be clever." However, by being repeatedly told “You are clever” or “You are really good at your job”，a person's self—respect is actually dainagcd.

    The  growth—mindset  person a view life as a series of exciting challenges and  want  to constantly  learn. Brain activity occurs in this mindset when they receive information about what they could do belter or improve. They do not view their abilities as fixed or us failure. Learning is king and the more they practice , the more they know they will succeed.

    What is important is giving praise around process and not around ability. For example , instead of saying"Since you got a great score, you must be clever" f say " You got a great score, and you must have tried really hard". This creates challenge in individuals and the meaning of mindsets is massive for business. Fixed-mindset managers are not fans of giving feedback (反馈）. They do not want to stretch themselves or others because they fear failure. Therefore their business may stand still because there is no risk or innovation (创新） occurring.

    Listen from your own fixed mindset — for example ," I can't  do that” — and answer with a growth-mindset response — “I can't do that yet!" Remember  there is no such thing as failure and there is s only learning. If you don't fail occasionally ，you will never learn to change and grow.

    Is there anything more important than health? I don't think so. “Health is the greatest wealth.” wise people say. You can't be good at your studies or work well when you are ill. If you have a headache, toothache, backache, earache or bad pain in the stomach, if you complain of a bad cough, if you run a high temperature and have a bad cold, or if you suffer from high or low blood pressure, I think you should go to the doctor. The doctor will examine your throat, feel your pulse, test your blood pressure, take your temperature, sound your heart and lungs, test your eyes, check your teeth or have your chest X-rayed. After that he will advise some treatment, or some medicine. The only thing you have to do is to follow his advice.    

    Speaking about doctor's advice, I can't help telling you a funny story. An old gentleman came to see the doctor. The man was very ill. He told the doctor about his weakness, memory loss and serious problems with his heart and lungs. The doctor examined him and said there was no medicine for his disease. He told his patient to go to a quiet place for a month and have a good rest. He also advised him to eat a lot of meat, drink two glasses of red wine every day and take long walks. In other words, the doctor advised him to follow the rule: “Eat with pleasure, drink with pleasure and enjoy life as it is.” The doctor also said that if the man wanted to be well again, he shouldn't smoke more than one cigarette a day. A month later the gentleman came into the doctor's office. He looked cheerful and happy. He thanked the doctor and said that he had never felt a healthier man.“ But you know, doctor,” he said, “it's not easy to begin smoking at my age.”

    Popular music in America is what every student likes. Students carry small radios with earphones and listen to music before class, after class, and at lunch. Students with cars buy large speakers and play the music loudly as they drive on the street.

    Adult(成年人) drivers listen to music on the car radio as they drive to work. They also listen to the news about sports, the weather, and the life of American people. Most of the radio programmers（节目）are music.

    Pop or popular music singers make much money. They make a CD or tape which radio stations use in many places. Once the popular singer is heard all over the country, young people buy his or her tapes. Some of the money from these tapes goes to the singer. Wherever the singer goes, all the young people want to meet him or her. Now the singer has become a national star.

    There are other kinds of music that are important to Americans. One is called folk music. It tells stories about the common life of Americans. Another is called western or country music. This is started by cowboys（牛仔）who would sing at night to the cows they were watching. Today, any music about country life and the love between a country boy and his girl is called western or country music.

    When I was only 3 years old, my mother taught me to memorize and recite poems. She was my first teacher of the arts, and my father was the first to appreciate my performance. Even at that young age, I had a simple understanding of how art and culture affect us as human beings and how we can connect to each other through the arts, which shapes my life to this day.

    When I was growing up, my parents supported my interest in taking acting classes and doing community theater. Their faith in me and the professional（专业的）training I was getting from my theater teachers gave me a sense of purpose and a sense of self-confidence. I learned what artistic achievement actually was and what hard work the business was. While many people see the rosy picture to our business, I was really learning what it would require for me to become a professional.

    I became an actress, but arts education isn't just about preparing our young people for a job in the arts. I recently talked to some of the kids attending theater education. Some of them want to work in theater, and some don't. They are learning not only theater skills, but also about the world around them. They learn about discipline（纪律）and hard work and what's required and what they have to do to bring themselves to the work. They learn how they can be of service in the world through the arts. They learn how to work with a team. By studying the arts, these students are open to worlds and lives that they might not have any other way of knowing about or any other way to connect with in their lives the way they are right now.

    These young people are our future. We are passing the torch to them. And I think that's one of the most important reasons why we need to foster（培养）the arts.

    Oh my God, the robots are taking over! We're doomed! Doomed! Now that I've gotten that out of my system, it's become clear that while we may or may not be doomed, the robots are taking over. The latest example is the government's new guidelines for self-driving cars.

    Tesla, Google and Uber are already testing driverless cars in cities across America. Uber chief executive Travis Kalanick is among those predicting that by 2021, self-driving cars will play a big part in urban settings.

    Nearly 40,000 people died last year in this nation in automobile-related accidents, and we believes driverless cars can save tens of thousands of lives annually.

    Makes sense. Robot drivers are less likely to get drunk, drive without a license, text while driving or feel agitated at the scene of a pileup. On the other hand, I wonder how these highly sensitive cars will react, with walkers constantly dashing into the street. Will they jam on the brakes every 10 seconds?

    But there's a bigger picture. Not only are robots replacing humans behind the wheel, but behind the work desk, in warehouses, senior homes, you name it. Robots aren't just taking over in the workplace.

    The question is, where can't a robot function better than a human? How about writing songs? A robot can go through every combination of notes in record time and come up with a pleasing melody. The lyrics might be a different story. Is a Grammy-winning song co-written by Hank Human and R-3071 in our future?

    Finally, it's only a matter of time until we have robot politicians and presidential candidates. Why not? They can be programmed to be experts in world and domestic affairs and come up with the best solutions without corruption and bad humors.

    Actually, it's too bad such technology isn't available in 2016. Pretty sure the robot would win in a landslide.

    In this day and age,it may seem that getting two people with different views together to discuss them leads to a disaster.Just think about what would happen if you sat down and had an open and honest conversation with someone with completely opposing views.Could it bring you closer together?

    However,the Human Library Organization is counting on it.At a Human Library,people volunteer to become "books" and make their experiences open and available."Readers" are encouraged to ask them questions freely,and they'll get honest answers in return.There's no judgment,and no questions are off—limits.

    You won't find unpleasant comments,and you won't lose faith in humanity.At the Human Library,you actually feel letter about the world you live in.You might even make a new friend!

    "The human books consist of people who have been discriminated by society."said Ronni Abergel,the Human Library Organization's founder,who has set out to build a space for conversations that can challenge prejudices through dialogue."The most pleasantly surprising thing about it is how close all the human books become to one another."she said.

    Human Libraries help to remind us there really is more that unites us than divides us.And as events now spread throughout 82 countries,with Human Libraries even set to launch soon in Pakistan and Jordan,you can tell that is a shared feeling.

    "We can spend billions and billions in trying to build up homeland security and our safety,but real safety comes from having positive relations to other groups in your community."said Abergel,"Real safety is not going to come from building walls.It's going to come from reaching out and getting to know each other."