Mindsets

Hilary Duff’s Growth Mindset Have you ever accepted failure' In this article Mindset by Carol Dweck, she argues what a growth mindset has and what a fixed mindset has. A growth mindset is about getting out of your comfort zone and exceeding over the limits of what is expected of you. In other words, a growth mindset is about allowing yourself to not accept failure and to learn. On the other hand, a fixed mindset is having to prove that you are smart or believing people about defining you of what you should do or become. For Hilary Duff that was never the case, she began her fame by starring in a hit show and since then she has grown and became what everyone didn’t expect her to be. She challenged those that would; as a result she became one of the top role models for young teens in America. She showed everyone that she is a real person and does not follow what a person is telling her to do. She is proof of a growth mindset because of her many great achievements through acting, singing, and designing her own line. With each struggle that she had, was another opportunity to grasp and hang on to what is important to her. Hilary Duff has achieved so much because she is strong-willed and independent. Many celebrities her age are getting into trouble, but Duff’s persistent behavior made her stand out amongst her peers. Duff said the reason so many teens her age get into trouble is because they try to do everything at one time, which causes them to do bad things. According to Dweck, “Failure is about not growing” (Dweck 15). In other words, Dweck is saying that accepting failure is another form of not having a growth mindset. Her success rose when she starred in a hit show on the Disney channel called “The Lizzie McGuire Show.” As a young teen herself, she played a teen discovering who she is and finding her in many different scenarios that most young teens go through. From then on, she strived to become a singer, fashion designer, and of course landed more starring roles in movies. Duff has been through many obstacles and struggles in her life, but she is still persistent on learning things that she was curious about. Hilary Duff’s growth mindset helped her succeed and transition from a young teen that was on the Lizzie McGuire show to a young woman who wanted to be known as Hilary Duff and not as Lizzie McGuire. As a result, she was dealing with many fans questioning her ability to sing. Many assumed that she lip-syncs or just can’t sing at all. Although those statements could be true, Duff believes that there will be always someone that will disagree with you and you can’t let that stop you from growing. According to Dweck “Everyone is born with an intense drive to learn” (Dweck 16). In other words, Dweck believes that people are naturally born to want to learn, which helps prove that Duff is one of those people that strives to want to learn and achieve. Duff’s greatest achievements would have to be when she first starred in Lizzie McGuire (2003) and her many starring roles in movies. On that note, her albums were also a huge success. Her many achievements trough acting and singing brought the attention of hopeful young teens that looks up to her, because she achieved and conquered so much as a young teen and managed to be a fantastic role model. Now at the age of 22 she continues to ‘wow’ her audience and her many fans by creating a fashion line for DKNY and guest starring in hit shows such as Gossip Girl. In an interview on Ellen Degeneres show with Hilary Duff, she talked about how she was able to achieve so much because she was curious about how things worked in the fashion industry, in her many roles as a movie star, as a successful singer, and as a successful book author. According to Dweck, “People with a growth mindset know that it takes time for potential to flower” (Dweck 28). In other words Dweck believes that people who have a growth mindset must know it takes patience and time to achieve something incredible. In addition, Hilary Duff says that it’s always best to do one thing at a time, rather than everything at one time because it can turn into a disaster. As Hilary Duff success began to rise as a person who could do it ‘all’, she became a role model for many young teens including me. Although I don’t know her personally, she helped me discover just how much a person can achieve if you put your heart and soul into it. Duff believes if you are curious and interested in something, don’t have a second thought and just dive into it because you never know where it will take you, which gave many young girls the drive to go out and do something. In addition Dweck states “Believing that success is about learning, students with a growth mindset seized the chance” (Dweck 18), which means success is about growing from wanting to failure to wanting to learn. Duff is a perfect example of a person that takes risky chances because she is one of the most successful and influential person that I know of today. As a result, Duff has inspired many fans to grow and succeed in life. Above all else, Hilary Duff has proven that she has a growth mindset due to her many success and challenges thrown towards her. According to Dweck, “Even in the growth mindset, failure can be a painful experience. But it doesn’t define you. It’s a problem to be faced, dealt with, and learned from” (Dweck 33). In other words, people with a growth mindset doesn’t let a sign of failure tell you how you should live, but to learn and grow from it. Hilary Duff has proven this statement to be true because she was able to conquer and overcome obstacles to let the fans and people closest to her that I will be okay and I wont let this fear, judgment, or rumor cloud or ruin my life. In addition Hilary Duff never gives up on the things that matter most to her career and her life.