Thank you for joining the Huberman Lab Neural Network — a once-a-month newsletter with science and science-related tools for everyday life. This newsletter aims to provide you with actionable information in a condensed form.

In the episode “How to Enhance Performance & Learning by Applying a Growth Mindset,” I discuss how to develop and apply a growth mindset — the process of rewarding effort, not results, as a means to improve learning and performance. Data show the positive consequences of a growth mindset are far-reaching. Many myths exist about a growth mindset. This newsletter teaches you how to use a growth mindset correctly.

What Is a Growth Mindset?

​Dr. Carol Dweck coined the term growth mindset to describe research on how to improve learning that is anchored in the belief that our abilities are malleable — and indeed they are (!) because our brains can continually learn and change throughout our lifespan (neuroplasticity).

Our understanding of our abilities and our narratives of why we are “good” and “bad” at certain things often arises out of the unconscious (or conscious) understanding of the types of feedback we receive early in life. There are two basic kinds of feedback; one is better for improving learning than the other.

  • Intelligence/Performance-based feedback is associated with identity labels. Praise involves telling a child (or adult) they’re smart and talented, learn things easily, or are really good at a particular skill. Identity-label feedback actually undermines effort and results in the long run! Most people don’t realize this, and intelligence feedback is problematic because when we inevitably fail to perform well, we then assume it’s due to something central to our identity. For that and many other reasons, it’s generally good to avoid intelligence/performance-based feedback.
  • Effort-based feedback, on the other hand, is performance-enhancing and is always associated with “verb” (action) states. This type of praise focuses on persistence, effort, dedication or how a person kept working through an error or challenge. For example, saying, “That was a solid effort,” or “You’re pushing really hard to learn, which is so good!” or “It’s great the way you kept trying when you had a setback,” etc. is ideal for enhancing performance as it leads to more of what’s required to improve, and it generalizes to other scenarios.
  • Effort-based feedback is especially important when someone (or you) performs well, not just when someone falls short of a goal.