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To summarize the idea that our emotions, our reactions to events, and some mental illnesses are caused by the mental filters through which we look at the world, I could not say it any more concisely than Shakespeare: "There is nothing either good or bad, but thinking makes it so."

Proactive people can carry their own weather with them. Whether it rains or shines makes no difference to them.

As we'll discover in this chapter, our external "reality" is far more malleable than many of us think, and far more dependent on the eyes through which we view it. With the right mindset, our power to dictate this reality--and in turn the results of our actions--increases exponentially.

"thinking makes it so." (Or, as Buddha4 said, "Our life is the creation of our mind.")

Danielle's idea that people were innately confident on the job, or they weren't, is called a fixed mindset. We can have fixed mindsets about different things--intelligence, athletic ability, social savvy, thinness--but, whatever the case, a fixed mindset is a way of thinking in black and white. When it came to confidence, Danielle thought there were haves and have-nots and maybe she was a have-not. She feared her more self-possessed coworkers were cut out for the work when she obviously wasn't. This made work a scary place. Big mistakes or negative comments felt like verdicts. Those who use what is called a growth mindset believe that people can change, that success is something to be achieved. Maybe it's not the case that any person can be anything, but it is still true that within certain parameters, people can learn and grow. For those who have a growth mindset, failures may sting but they are also viewed as opportunities for improvement and change.