Do you run from challenging tasks or thrive when faced with a challenge? Do you view failure as evidence of unintelligence or as a potential to learn and stretch your existing abilities?
You have met people with a fixed mindset. They worry about keeping up with the latest trends and hate making mistakes in front of others. They avoid challenging tasks and get super defensive when you criticise them openly and speak about themselves with negative language — desperately seeking approval from their boss, teachers and society.
You have also met those with a growth mindset. They try new experiences, improving their abilities by reading, learning and taking up new tasks. They crave challenges and the opportunity to develop their abilities. They do not waste time judging what others have, not seeking approval from anyone and knows the value of speaking to themselves with positive language.
We are born with a growth mindset but learn to fear “doing wrong” through the people we surround ourselves and sometimes through our educational years.
You will never see a baby learning to crawl give up because it is too hard. Think about that for a second.
Carol Dweck, Standford psychologist and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, explains that those with a “fixed mindset” believe their character, intelligence and skills are static givens and cannot be improved. According to Dweck’s theory, though, you can cultivate your mindset at any point in your life.
Growth Mindset? What is that?
Simply put, a growth mindset is a belief that you can improve your skills, develop your intelligence and grow as a person with hard work and dedication. Without a growth mindset, you are “stuck” as your default version. Who does not like an upgrade? Anyone?
Why is having a growth mindset so important?
As someone who used to have a fixed mindset, I can tell you that it can be quite restricting. You shy away from challenges because you do not want to be humiliated or embarrassed in front of others. The fear of making a mistake can lead to you avoiding the challenges and experiences that help you grow and improve.
Having a growth mindset allows you to enjoy new challenges and experiences because you value and embrace learning. You may not know what you are doing, but you do it knowing you are building your skills more easily every time because you believe you can, so you work hard on it.
Developing a growth mindset can help you create the life you desire by contributing to a fuller and more meaningful life. The range of experiences you will come across will be considerably broader.
The 3 key differences between a "Fixed" and a "Growth" Mindset
Someone who has a fixed mindset will pass a problematic task to another when faced with hard work, avoiding any real effort wherever possible. While the person with a growth mindset will take that problematic task as they believe outcomes require effort.
Someone with a fixed mindset will shy away from new challenges in fear of humiliation or making a mistake in front of others. One with a growth mindset, however, views a challenge as engaging and an exciting potential to learn something valuable and grow.
If you have a fixed mindset, you might hate making mistakes because you feel embarrassed, even though it is the most natural thing in the world. Someone with a fixed mindset will see mistakes and failure as undermining their intelligence. They may also blame others or become defensive when openly criticised.
Noone likes their flaws put out for the world to see, but the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset is the growth mindset takes that criticism on board and uses it as an opportunity and motivation to grow and improve their abilities.
Your mindset creates your reality
The way we speak to others and ourselves as a verbal representation of how we view ourselves. If you have a fixed mindset, you may find yourself calling yourself an idiot every time you make a simple mistake or when you look at yourself in the mirror judge everything you do not like about yourself. You start to BELIEVE your words. They BECOME who you are. It keeps you from what you want to achieve and who you want to be.
Now you know the power your mindset has to create your reality; literally, you have a choice to make – fixed mindset or growth mindset?
Anyone can change their mindset from "fixed" to "growth" with these stupidly easy tips:
When you know and understand what is going on in your mind, you can adjust any thoughts that do not serve your purpose.
A great way to review your life, thoughts and goals is to write in a journal and write down your goals. Use your journal to track your thoughts, moods, what you are grateful for each day, how productive you were that day, and what were your distractions.
Watch your thoughts and the words you speak. If the words you use are negative, then your results will be negative. Instead of using negative language towards yourself and others, try using positive language to encourage and inspire growth.
For example, if you are trying to lose weight, but every time you look at yourself in the mirror, you make a negative comment about yourself, that negativity becomes how you view yourself. You no longer see yourself as capable of having a healthy body but someone who does not deserve to be healthy. It is too hard, too much effort.
On the other hand, when you tell yourself that you are making progress, no matter how small, that you will achieve your goal to be a healthy version of you, you change that negative perception of yourself to positive where you deserve to be healthy.
Try replacing judgemental thoughts for acceptance, hate with compassion. When you are disrespectful to yourself, your decisions and their outcomes will reflect that.
“Not yet” has become Dweck’s favourite phrases and to be honest, mine too!
You have not achieved your goals YET. You have not mastered a new skill YET. You cannot squat 100kgs YET. You get the idea.
Stick with it, and you will be pleasantly surprised by what you can achieve.
Seeking approval from others can prevent you from a growth mindset. It is so easy to get court up in seeking approval that we fall behind or lose momentum on a project. Or worse, you lose confidence in your abilities and stay in that fixed mindset.
Cultivate self-acceptance, learn to trust yourself as you are the only person you need to impress.
It is ok to make mistakes; they lead to you learning something new. To over come a fixed mindset, fear of humiliation, take risks in front of them. The more you take risks, the easier it will get.
Do not take yourself so seriously; when you are learning, you are bound to make mistakes.
They say you are the average of the 5 people you hang out with the most. So, if these 5 people are all stuck with a fixed mindset, you will find it challenging to embrace a growth mindset.
Instead, find like-minded people who embrace the challenge and want to continue on the path of learning. This could look like you joining a group or starting a group, maybe a book club or a taking a course to learn a new skill.
By surrounding yourself with people who have a growth mindset, you expose yourself to healthy and positive thinking that you can adopt as your own.
Learning a new skill takes time. It is not something that happens overnight. If you are trying to learn a new language, an instrument, or a new mindset, it takes time and consistency. Focus on the quality of the learning over how long it can take.
I want you to sit and think about which particular belief, mental habit or trait you would like to focus on first. Which mental habit hurts your goal of achieving a growth mindset the most?
It could be judgement, fear of making mistakes, being closed-minded, or seeking approval from others. Just choose one and work on it.
As mentioned in the tip above, remember it will take time, so allow yourself the time to make changes. You are a neverending project, always learning and improving, so enjoy the process and keep yourself stimulated with new goals.
So there you have it
In sum, a growth mindset is embracing new challenges, learning from “failure”, taking responsibility for your words and actions, and accepting that effort is the pathway to mastering a new skill or developing your skills and abilities. Practice makes competent.
Not where you want to be in life? Maybe it is time to look within and adopt a growth mindset?
Let me know in the comments below your journey and experience with adopting a growth mindset.
The Wellness Blogger x
