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Limitless Mind

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Limitless Mind

Learn, Lead, and Live Without Barriers

HarperOne,

15 min read
7 take-aways
Audio & text

What's inside?

Limitless learning: a new, better way to think of learning and growth for students, teachers and parents.

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Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Analytical
  • Innovative
  • Inspiring

Recommendation

Stanford mathematics education professor Jo Boaler argues that from the moment you enter school, teachers seek to convince you that your brain is a fixed entity, capable of learning some things and incapable of learning others.Regrettably, Boaler says, this notion follows you into adulthood, causing you to believe, for example, that you don’t have a “math brain.” Such false assumptions destroy your confidence and hamper your learning. Boaler shares new neuroscience showing how you can develop a growth mind-set and embrace the struggle to change your brain and body. Do that, and you can become a limitless learner and leader.

Summary

Your brain changes continuously, which means you can learn anything at any time in your life. Heed six learning keys.

Since your childhood, your teachers, coaches – and perhaps your parents – have conditioned you to believe that your particular brain defines your abilities and capacity for learning. They likely told you that your genetic makeup exclusively influences those realms in which you will excel and others in which you will perform poorly. Schools with gifted programs and parents with ingrained beliefs contribute to this confining myth of the “fixed brain.”

These limiting ideas persist into your adulthood, shaping your beliefs about your abilities and inclinations – such as the belief you cannot master math or music. They affect your confidence, your willingness to try new things, your choices and your future. However, recent neurological research demonstrates that you can transcend these conditioned limitations to learn and lead and live a “limitless” life.

Your brain is neither static nor fixed. High achievers excel not because of genetics, but because of their efforts and conscious practice. ...

About the Author

Jo Boaler, PhD is the Nomellini-Olivier Professor of Mathematics Education at Stanford University and co-founder of YouCubed.org. Her books include the series Mathematical Mindsets.

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