Chapter 2

INSIDE THE MINDSETS

When I was a young woman, I wanted a prince-like mate. Very handsome,

very

successful. A big cheese. I wanted a glamorous career, but nothing too hard

or

risky. And I wanted it all to come to me as validation of who I was.

It would be many years before I was satisfied. I got a great guy, but he was

a

work in progress. I have a great career, but boy, is it a constant challenge.

Nothing was easy. So why am I satisfied? I changed my mindset.

Chapter 1

THE MINDSETS

When I was a young researcher, just starting out, something happened that

changed my life. I was obsessed with understanding how people cope with

failures, and I decided to study it by watching how students grapple with

hard

problems. So I brought children one at a time to a room in their school,

made

them comfortable, and then gave them a series of puzzles to solve. The first

ones

were fairly easy, but the next ones were hard. As the students grunted,

perspired,

and toiled, I watched their strategies and probed what they were thinking

and

feeling.

One day, my students sat me down and ordered me to write this book. They

wanted people to be able to use our work to make their lives better. It was

something I’d wanted to do for a long time, but it became my number one

priority.