The title of this book is a little misleading. Limitless Mind is less about the mind and more about learning. And Jo Boaler picks math as the subject to concentrate on. The basic idea that she discusses is that the brain is not fixed but it can be changed with practice and concentration. Anybody can develop a math brain or a science brain if they are willing to put in the hard work.

The book has six main ideas:
1. Every time we learn, our brains changes and creates/strengthens neural pathways.
2. The times we spend struggling and making mistakes, we are helping our brain grow.
3. When we change our beliefs, our brains and responses change as well.
4. Learning is optimized when we use a multidimensional approach for various ideas.
5. Instead of speed of ideas, we need to be flexible and creative with our ideas.
6. Learning is enhanced when we connect people with ideas.

She cites a lot of research and I agree to her premise that anyone can become great at a subject or a sport if he/she is working hard and does not gives up while facing obstacles. But at the same time I also think that we do have born geniuses. They are wired differently. They work very hard but they also have innate talents. May be they form less than 0.00001 per cent of the population, but they are among us.

The takeaway from this book is that our brains are constantly growing (or shrinking). Mistakes are not to be looked down upon but they help our neural pathways to grow. It all depends on how the brain is trained and driven to learn more.

Really interesting and enjoyable read all about limiting beliefs we have about learning.

4 1/2 ⭐️
Review to come.

"In every moment of our lives our brains have opportunities to make connections, to strengthen pathways, and form new pathways."

I've highlighted almost every page of this book. None of the concepts around growth mindset were new to me. I took a course by the amazing teachers at Stanford almost 5 years ago when my son was in elementary school and the concepts resonated with me then. I believed in it and wanted to encourage my kids to think this way.

"This approach illustrates a key takeaway - when you hit a barrier, it is advantageous to develop a new approach and come at the problem from a new perspective."

But none of it brought it home the way this book did, for me. Even though parts of it were repetitive, I needed that repetition, I needed to hear the ideas again and again so I could internalize them in the right way. I've been taught the opposite messages my whole life, it's going to take a long time to unlearn and repetitive exposure to these ideas and examples is a start.

"The difference between positive and negative interactions frequently depends on three aspects of being unlocked: having an open mind, asking analytical questions, and embracing uncertainty."

There are parts of a growth mindset that I think I already do naturally. I am not afraid to ask questions, try new approaches, and I will often work on having an open mind. But uncertainty is almost never my friend. And yet, even there, I have many examples in my life when I've taken a big uncertain risk and have learned more in the process.

"If you settle into routines and do the same thing everyday, it is unlikely that your brain will grow new pathways and connections."

This one was hard on me, I am a person of routine. I do so much of the same thing every day. So it's a reminder for me to try one new thing every day. However small or big, it means I am growing and creating new connections in my brain.

"So my final advice for you is to embrace struggle and failure, take risks, and don't let people obstruct your pathways. If a barrier or roadblock is put in your way, find a way around it, take a different approach...Do not accept a life with limits. Instead of looking back on things that have gone badly, look forward and be positive about opportunities for learning and improvement. See others as collaborators, with whom you can grow and learn. Share uncertainty with them and be open to different ways of thinking."

I am going to print this quote and frame it both at home and at my desk at work. I don't want a life with limits. I want to grow and learn and thrive every single day of my life in every area of my life. I am eternally grateful to Jo Boaler for the reminder of the mindset I need to practice to ensure my life can be limitless.

with gratitude to netgalley and harper collins for an early copy in return for an honest review.

I'm obsessed with education! And this book really shows you something wonderful: everything can be learned, and most likely, you are the victim of having learned with limits. I know I was limited by people around me because of speed, because I did things differently, and 30 years later I am just now starting to unlearn this way of thinking. Beautiful book!

Thanks to HarperCollins for the ARC at BEA 2019!

I really enjoyed this book! It's a great look at from a Stanford professor at how we can apply recent insights in neuroscience towards education and how we think about learning. Boaler notes that as a society, we approach learning as a fixed thing; if you are bad at something, we generally just assume you'll always be bad at it. This compounds itself for women and people of color. The insights of neuroplasticity and the interconnections of brain regions show us how learning is a dynamic, constant, lifelong process, and that we shouldn't construct these arbitrary barriers around ourselves. Very approachable, not too technical (honestly, I kinda wanted it to get more technical as a budding neuroscientist myself, but this keeps it approachable), and well written! Highly recommend!

Great read for all learners.