The Problem with Mindsets
“Mindset” is a popular buzzword in self-help and psychology, often touted as the key to success, growth, or happiness.
Adopt a "growth mindset," they say, and you’ll unlock your potential. It sounds empowering, but there’s a hidden trap: framing our experience of life in terms of fixed mindsets can obscure the very nature of how our minds work.
Here’s the issue: mindsets create the illusion of something solid and static in a system that is inherently fluid and dynamic.
Our thoughts—the real drivers of our experience—are not fixed states. They are ever-changing, like water flowing downstream. But when we conceptualize these patterns of thought as a “mindset,” we freeze them into place. We label ourselves: “I have a fixed mindset,” or, “I need to cultivate a growth mindset.” Suddenly, we’re no longer observing thoughts as transient; we’re identifying with them as if they define us.
This can lead to unintended consequences. First, labeling mindsets can tether us to an idea of who we think we are. Instead of realizing we’re infinitely adaptable and capable of fresh thinking in any moment, we start seeing ourselves through the lens of a fixed category. Second, the concept of “mindsets” often leads to the belief that we must fix or manage them to feel okay. But this keeps us looking outward, searching for tools or techniques, when the clarity and well-being we seek are already within us.
Perhaps the biggest problem with the mindset model is that it distracts us from seeing the fluid nature of thought.
Thoughts come and go, moment to moment, creating the entirety of our experience. When we see this, we don’t need to worry about our "mindset" at all. Any unhelpful thinking will naturally pass—like clouds dissolving into a blue sky—when we don’t hold onto it or try to fix it.
Our true potential isn’t found in adopting a specific mindset. It’s realized by understanding that we’re not bound by any thought, feeling, or label. Peace and wisdom are our default settings, always available beneath the noise of thinking.
So, let’s set aside the notion of “mindsets.” Life becomes simpler and freer when we stop freezing the flow of thought and instead recognize its ever-changing, temporary nature. In that space, clarity, resilience, and fresh perspectives naturally emerge.