I've read many books on mindset and mindset related topics such as business and philosophy. At this point I've come to a few mindset principles of my own. Although you have probably heard some of them before, you will not have heard them all.

WHAT IS MINDSET?

“In decision theory and general systems theory, a mindset is a set of assumptions, methods, or notions held by one or more people or groups of people. A mindset can also be seen as arising out of a person’s world view or philosophy of life.” –  Wikipedia

Not every mindset has the same tint or color, but they all serve the same function; determining your path through life. Any belief (political, philosophical, religious, or otherwise) will automatically create a feedback loop into your mindset. The mindset itself tends to be the origin of many beliefs, too. Mindset is belief; belief is mindset.

GROWTH MINDSET AND FIXED MINDSET

Before we continue, I would like to note that the two mindsets which we are about to discuss are not the only ones. Mindsets are only constellations among specific beliefs, and in this sense everyone’s head is a different universe. What I mean by this is that a constellation is not the stars, and that it doesn’t encapsulate all the stars, only some of them. Each person also has their own unique set of beliefs in their head, even if we share many in common. Keep this in mind.

A growth mindset is, in essence, the mindset of a winner. The person with a growth mindset believes that challenges make them stronger. They believe that any challenge can be overcome. They believe that new things, people, places, and ideas are exciting and fun.

A fixed mindset is, in essence, the mindset of a loser. The person with a fixed mindset believes that challenges wear them down. They believe that challenges can not be overcome. They believe new things, people, places, and ideas are best to avoid.

Naturally, I do not subscribe wholeheartedly to either one. Nobody does. However, I am partial to a growth mindset because I know that it’s what’s best for me–and it’s the most true.

In my estimation a stereotypically fixed mindset is complete lunacy and a weight put on the individual through childhood trauma. It is almost always wrong about everything.

That said, some people with a growth mindset seem to avoid certain dimensions of reality like IQ or body types. Not everyone can be the president; like them or not, both Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump have IQs above 130; some people are born midgets, and will never play basketball for the NBA–unless it’s some sort of “make a wish” thing, or an imposition of social justice upon everyone’s sanity and enjoyment.

Stay positive, but don’t try to break reality, is my point.

TH3 J3ST3R’S MINDSET NUGGETS

Here are some of my stars you could add to your universe.

No pain, no gain.
There are absolutely no drugs, supplements, technologies, or anything else that will ever give you any gains in the long run. No gains in wealth, health, attractiveness, or anything. If you do not work for it, you don’t get it. Apply this to absolutely everything and see how it works.

You take testosterone supplements? Your body will stop producing as much testosterone.
You drink coffee to stay awake and be productive? You get worse sleep and lose productivity in the long run.
You lied to her in order to sleep with her? Here come the rape allegations.

With great responsibility comes great power.
Spiderman only gave you half of the truth; the maintenance of power. The other half is that great power comes when you take great responsibility. Once you start holding yourself accountable for EVERYTHING that happens in your life, then you will gain great power as a consequence. The mark of a person with oodles of power is that they start holding themselves responsible for other people’s mistakes–Isn’t that what a boss is supposed to do?

Your girlfriend is terrible or left you? You chose her. Your mistake. You made it happen.
You lost your job? You sucked too much. You didn’t get friendly with the people at work or provide anything your boss needed. You failed.
You’re depressed? You eat too much junk food and spend your leisure time smoking weed and binging cartoons and video games. You don’t exercise. You don’t try. You are the problem.

A caveat: There's no reason to beat yourself up about anything. Feeling bad about yourself is not taking responsibility. Just take responsibility.

There are no mistakes, only opportunities to learn.
Obviously mistakes exist, but the way we frame them is important. Do not dwell on them as mistakes, but as opportunities to learn. Yesterday I learned that while using photoshop to make my blog art, I need to rasterize my layers (I have no clue what that means,) before outlining everything. If I don’t rasterize first, then I just waste my time outlining an object. Why do I remember this lesson? Because it was 5 minutes of my life that I wasted by not rasterizing. At this point I have become so efficient at transmuting feelings of frustration into fuel for learning that I hardly care about the mistakes. All the energy you spend caring about the mistake is supposed to go into learning the lesson.

If they won’t take a bullet for you, they aren’t your friend.
Having more than ~12 friends is shallow. Facebook is for the vain. Instagram is a waste of time. Nobody really cares about you. It’s all very true, you know. If you can not be entirely honest with your friends, they are only acquaintances. If you feel like you have to walk on eggshells around them in order to not push certain buttons, then they are your enemy in disguise. If there is no truth, there is no friend. Honor is what binds people together, and there’s no honor without truth.