
 Why some people excel and others do not - Mindset, believe in your own potential - sergiutruta
http://www.sergiutruta.com/2007/05/03/why-some-people-excel-and-others-don%e2%80%99t-mindset-believe-in-your-own-potential/
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whacked_new
I like the general attitude of your article, but I'm not too fond of the
certainty of tone used regarding the fairly general and debated topic of
"achievement." I have a great interest in that subject, but far too often the
writings about it are written too casually and to some extent, carelessly.

Mindset and hard work are undeniably important factors. There has been an
accumulation of studies dealing with this stuff, which is a good thing, but
still not enough to be conclusive. Fairly recently, one such study surveyed
two classes; in one class, students were told that intelligence is all
genetic, and in the other, is changeable by effort. Over x years, the second
class had an overally higher achievement score.

This is encouraging news, but usually the metrics involved are fairly specific
and limited, the timeframe too short (2 years in highschool cannot predict
much), this and that and more. Regardless, every step is a step. But research
artcile or not, when you deal with this topic, you need to have grounds for
your discussion.

All children are not smart. There are smart kids, dumb kids, and average kids.
A kid who can read the NYTimes within 48 months of birth (Sho Yano) is no
average kid. Self confidence is important, but you tread into chicken and egg
territory: confidence is intertwined with external feedback. You can be
confident because you think you are good. You can also be, because you _know_
you are good. There is a drastic difference here: the latter needs a
foundation for reasoning.

oops i wrote a bit too much... this is just an area im particularly interested
in. but such an open ended question is probably not going to give you definite
answers. anthony robbins probably has a lot to say, but half of what he writes
is like pulled from the clouds... kinda fluffy and cool but all vapor and
volumeless.

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sergiutruta
yeap, I'm pretty interested into this subject also. I don't have any grounds
in this field, it's just about personal experience in dealing with smart/dumb
people. and it's not related only to being smart or not, it's related to
everything, even sports. I've met people who've set their mind to be great at
something and they succeeded.

I'm not talking about those exceptions who read or write when others can
barely speak, I'm referring to the majority here. I don't agree with one of
your points: intelligence is not changeable by effort, it's actually
changeable by mindset and self confidence.

For example the number one guy in my university was also the guy working the
most. but he was not brilliant, he was only really determined to be the best.
thanks for your comments ;)

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sergiutruta
why do you think some of us are good at what we do and others are not?

