My “burn cycle” consists of two processes, resentment and reward, that keep the crank turning, giving life its dynamism. Resentment comes from a feeling that one is under the control of other forces, and how they are _treated_ as part of that subjugation. Since it is threatening to them to try to challenge these more powerful people and their institutions, they instead seek resolution through rewarding themselves, like buying Faith Popcorn’s “small indulgences.” Much of our consumption of food and of buying things feeds this half of the cycle, the “burn” cycle. As a result, their resentments are not ‘solved,’ but only masked for a short period of time.

The “learn cycle” is, as suggested, a constant churning of the mind, mixing refraction and reflection. The terms are from optics, but used here to refer to the way the mind builds mental models. One acts through a refractory medium, one’s surroundings, and we actively use slow periods and sleep to reflect on how our actions impacted other people and things in our locality, if any. That reflection is used to refine our mental model of reality, sometimes by tearing some component down and building it in a different way, and more usually, continuing to add to it in ever-widening circles of complexity, as in a fractal (a major rebuild can often be viewed by others as a kind of mental breakdown.)

The “burn cycle” is self-defeating, as the cost of rewards, both in money and in other factors such as poor health and stress, cause each person to have to expose themselves to more and more situations that produce more unequal- (asymmetrical) power situations, each of which simply increases the feelings of resentment. One descends gradually (or dramatically) into a pit of one’s own making (of course, few people in this situation feel they were their fate’s author).

But the “learn cycle” person soars ever higher, with a mental picture that continues to explain more and more. But, the fate of such a person is never to be satisfied with their knowledge and understanding, but to continue to work for more insights and enlightenment.

Could this explanation produce the same dichotomy as Dweck’s model? (see my earlier treatment of this at: http://hearthhealth.wordpress.com/about/previously-published-works/feet-first-early/using-our-feet-to-reduce-our-footprint-the-importance-of-scale-in-life/)

I would be a great person for the author to study.

Thanks for the book! I bought 4 and gave them to my children’s teachers.

Ok, how about the “Growth Mindset” If we all approached life with only the growth mindset, we wouldn’t get anything done. We would sit around learning and dreaming and not actually following through. I would love to do that problem is I’m growing one of the most dynamic distribution centers for low cost medical equipment ever. I don’t have the luxury. I also can back that up by mentioning I’m an International inventor, and I have other accomplishments.
This response isn’t about how great I am it’s about how I mentioned some of my capabilities and accomplishments to substantiate why I can say some of these things.

Fast Forward to all the teachers and mentors. The ideal learning environment should justify caution and not penalize one for exploring or questioning. Praise needs to be introduced every step of the way, and Oh by the way a sincere hug and a sense of caring needs to be allowed in our school systems. Some children don’t get any affection at home. In no uncertain terms they will fail in school.

You can read more of my ramblings at http://www.bontemedical.com/blog

Tony

This has obviously had terrible impact on my daily life,
I’m an entrepreneur (one man band in the software industry) and there are many challenging projects that I can’t get done, or started due to lack of will power, motivation, unability of getting and staying in the zone for a long time, lack of concentration and so on

I’m guessing that this is related to my fixed minset state

I’ve sometimes the feeling that my life is just passing by, that I’m worthless and that I’m just a plain procrastinator or a lazy person which lack the self discipline required to get things done in a timely manner, sometimes even the most mundane things such as shopping.
As a result of that I’ve always got the feeling of being overwhelmed with zillions of things to do which leads to anxiety and stress and then I don’t know by what which I should start, which lead to a constant status quo in my life

Would you have any tips & advises you could give me to get out of this trap ?

I’m a useless drawer (kinder garden level) and I’ve decided to read Betty Edwards book to see if I can manage to draw better

Best Regards from France,
Demrek

PS : Sorry for the mangling English but I’m French

Mindset is not easily divided into two simple definitions in my eyes however, like earlier said people can contradict many of the differences between the two of the mindsets inspiring multiple thought process’s of expanding contributions of change in everyday life. I myself have just turn seventeen and with a long and eventful seventeen years of challenging myself with new idea’s of personnel expansion.

Please don’t misunderstand me, I really enjoyed your diagrams. I also think the idea to teach this in schools would not only inspire a highly productive growth in students in academic potential but there way of approaching life. It would inspire teachers to teach on a more connective level of understanding. Which would produce stronger student relations, fun & maturer students and higher qualifications.

Would love to here more feedback. Love to see contributions from all kinds of people wanting to reach higher personnel development and self understanding! XD

P.s Sorry for the essay…