You’re in charge of your mind. You can help it grow by using it in the right way.

Just because some people can do something with little or no training, it doesn't mean that others can't do it (and sometimes do it even better) with training.

We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.

I don’t mind losing as long as I see improvement or I feel I’ve done as well as I possibly could.

Did I win? Did I lose? Those are the wrong questions. The correct question is: Did I make my best effort?” If so, he says, “You may be outscored but you will never lose.

This is hard. This is fun.

So what should we say when children complete a task—say, math problems—quickly and perfectly? Should we deny them the praise they have earned? Yes. When this happens, I say, “Whoops. I guess that was too easy. I apologize for wasting your time. Let’s do something you can really learn from!