The fixed mindset refers to the most basic beliefs we carry about ourselves, how we view and inhabit what we consider to be our personality. A fixed mindset assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static givens which we can’t change in any meaningful way, and success is the affirmation of that inherent intelligence, an assessment of how those givens measure up against an equally fixed standard; striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs become a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled - See more at: http://richardmale.com/two-mindsets-that-shape-our-lives/#sthash.qBLGvY8e.dpuf