To further illustrate the impacts of mindset, Dweck delves into the world of sports, using her theory to explain why some stars rise quickly and burn out, but others slowly and steadily rise and become larger-than-life legends by the end of their careers. Dweck’s interest in studying sports is rooted in the ease of assuming fixed-mindset beliefs about them. Everyone in sports, she argues, believes in talent: sportscasters, analysts, coaches, fans, and the players themselves. Dweck observes that the physical realm of sports makes early talent, physique, and achievement visible in ways that can overshadow equally important aspects of athletics such as strategy, conduct, practice, and training. Sports, she says, is full of fixed mindsets. While those who have them, like tennis player John McEnroe, may reach the top, they rarely stay there because of the pressure to live up to their own hype.

Not only does mindset matter, Dweck argues that it is the common theme in all the stories of the underdog who rises to the top, from Larry Bird to Muhammad Ali to Michael Jordan. Each of these superstars was discounted because they did not meet the physical standards for their sport but became a legend through hard work, conduct, and strategy.