Growth mindset is a buzz term that has been thrown around for quite some time now.
You’ve likely heard it used in your personal life, in education, and business. Although it has become a popular sentiment in recent years, many people don’t fully understand its meaning or have misconceptions about its meaning.
A growth mindset is more of a way of living than a static thought process. Becoming a person who utilizes a growth mindset can substantially impact your life. By changing how you view obstacles, challenges, and shortcomings, a growth mindset will teach you that everything in life can be used as a learning experience. And the more you are willing to cast your doubts, fears, and ego-driven thoughts to the side and make room for a new growth mindset, you will reap the many short and long-term benefits of such a transformation.
This article will teach you what a growth mindset means, why it’s essential, and how to attain it. Like anything in life, if you want to achieve a growth mindset, you have to put in the daily work and earn it.
So let’s get started.
WHAT IS MINDSET?
A mindset is a mental attitude or inclination, a fixed state of mind.
When you’re battling anger issues, you could say that you carry an angry mindset.
The same goes for people who tend to see the glass half-full; they could be categorized as carrying a positive mindset.
There are two distinct types of mindsets:
FIXED MINDSET:
People who have a fixed mindset believe that these qualities are inherent and virtually unchangeable.
GROWTH MINDSET:
Conversely, people who have a growth mindset believe that these qualities can be developed and strengthened by hard work and dedication.
WHY IS MINDSET IMPORTANT?
There are several reasons why mindset is essential to your life.
When we change our mindset to align with our values, purpose, and goals, we give ourselves a more significant opportunity to achieve, act, and live them out.
Developing a healthier mindset can set the stage for every other area of your life; romantic relationships; career opportunities; physical, emotional, and mental health; family and friends; and achieving your desired goals.
Mindset also can carry us through the rough patches that life inevitably brings to us. When you possess a healthier mindset, you typically have more emotional stability and bounce back quicker from any adverse situations.
WHAT IS A GROWTH MINDSET?
Dr. Carol Dweck of Stanford University coined the term growth mindset.
But what does it mean, exactly?
There seems to be some confusion depending on who you ask.
Dr. Dweck defines it like this:
“The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments, everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”
A fixed mindset, on the other hand, is the opposite. When a person believes that the talents, aptitudes, abilities, personality traits, and intelligence are set in stone and not interchangeable. Essentially, you’re born with what you’re born with, and that’s it.
Dr. Dweck says this about a fixed mindset:
“Believing that your qualities are carved in stone creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character, well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics.”
You probably can quickly pinpoint people in your life who have a fixed mindset and those who have a growth mindset. They are easy to spot once you know the traits.
So how do you develop a growth mindset?
10 WAYS TO DEVELOP AND HONE A GROWTH MINDSET
1. BECOME MORE MINDFUL OF YOUR THOUGHTS AND EMOTIONS
Becoming more aware of your thoughts and emotions is critical in developing a growth mindset. Why? Because everything you do in your life is based on your thoughts and emotions. Whether it’s your job, romantic relationship, friendships, athletics, or other hobbies, your thoughts and emotions play a substantial role in everything you do. How you view yourself, your life, and the world will determine how much growth you’ll experience. Suppose you have a negative-based thought system with heavy and weighted-down emotions such as anger, extreme anxiety, or shame. In that case, you won’t fully cultivate an open-minded, free-spirited approach that is critical for a growth mindset.
2. START TRACKING AND TWEAKING YOUR HABITS AND ROUTINES
Growth mindset is about acknowledging both your strengths and weaknesses. You want to enjoy and appreciate your strengths while improving on your weaknesses. If your habits and routines reflect an unhealthy lifestyle, it’s a sign that your mindset could be fixed in certain areas of your life. You may want to change in the moment, but if your unhealthy habits are present, they will hold you hostage. Bad habits can add up quickly and spiral into something difficult to change. Over time you may develop a more fixed mindset because of it. If you can turn some of your unhealthy habits and routines into healthier, more sustainable ones, this will allow you to experience a growth mindset firsthand. Start by checking out this article I wrote about tracking your moods. You can use this same simple format to track your thoughts and emotions throughout the day.
3. EMBRACE IMPERFECTION
Give yourself a chance to fail. Yes, you read that correctly. Allow yourself the space and freedom to try new things and fail at them. Growth mindset isn’t about perfection or doing everything at a high level; it’s about learning and growing. You will never learn and grow by doing the same things repeatedly without anything new being implemented. Perfection is the enemy of growth, so don’t limit yourself to playing it safe all the time. Take chances, fail, learn, grow.
4. DO YOUR RESEARCH
Soak up as much information as you possibly can. Developing a growth mindset means developing the ability to learn and take in new information. When you hone this skill, you open up doors and previously closed opportunities. Doing your research on various topics and learning new things will enhance your mindset and enhance your life and those around you.
5. CULTIVATE BELIEF IN YOURSELF
Belief is essential in any area of growth. How do you expect to do it if you don’t believe you can achieve something? Belief is a cornerstone of accomplishment. You cannot create a growth mindset with little or no belief in yourself. At some point, that lack of belief will rear its ugly head and hold you back from becoming the person you want to be. By using daily affirmations, mantras, or similar devices, you can cultivate belief within yourself. Once you begin to believe, you will have a foundation to build the rest of your growth mindset.
6. MAKE A LIST OF MENTORS AND ROLE MODELS TO CONTACT
One of the biggest reasons I am who I am today is the mentors and role models I had around me during different periods of my life. As you get older, these people become paramount in developing a growth mindset because not only can they help guide you, but they can also become your biggest cheerleaders. One step I recommend doing is getting out a piece of paper and writing down ten people in your life who you look up to and ten people who you aspire to be more like (these could be the same people as the first ten). Then, over weeks or months, contact these people and let them know they are role models to you. And if you are looking for a mentor, ask a few of them if they’d be willing to mentor you in whatever area of expertise they specialize in. This could be personal development, career, relationships, health, etc. Mentors and role models are a significant piece of the growth mindset puzzle because they give you the ability to learn and one day become a mentor yourself.
7. TAKE EXTREME OWNERSHIP OF YOUR LIFE
Former Navy SEAL and Podcast host Jocko Willink had a famous TED Talk and wrote a book entitled Extreme Ownership, about setting your ego aside and owning up to everything in your life. As humans, we tend to make excuses about our plot in life and use them as a crutch to satisfy our ego and keep us from making any impactful change. But taking extreme ownership means looking at every area of life and dissecting it, owning your mistakes or shortcomings, and working to improve on them in the future. This type of thought process may take some time to get used to since it directly goes against everything the ego perpetuates, such as protecting its fragile image with excuses, blaming others, or not taking action. But in the end, being blunt and honest with yourself will only serve you long-term. Take extreme ownership of your life, and you’ll begin to develop a more powerful aspect of a growth mindset.
8. DON’T LET YOUR EGO GET IN THE WAY
The ego can wreak havoc on a growth mindset. Although we all have an ego and fall victim to its insecurities at times, we must realize that letting our egos take over will disrupt the growth mindset. The ego loves to play the victim and blame circumstances and people for our lot in life, but this attitude will not help create a growth mindset. Excuses are the opposite of growth; they are what keep you firmly planted in place and stuck in the mud. You need to understand that you’re responsible for your future lot in life and making the most out of your talents, abilities, and opportunities.
9. LEAVE YOUR COMFORT ZONE
The idea of a growth mindset isn’t to free yourself of challenges and obstacles but rather to learn how to navigate and overcome them. Leaving your comfort zone won’t feel good, nor will it be easy, but growth is found outside of your comfort zone, not in it. In life, we often try and take the easy way out of difficult situations; it’s human nature, but it doesn’t usually get us where we want to go. Facing challenging situations head-on and learning to escape your comfort zone is critical in achieving a growth mindset. Once you get used to living your life outside of your comfort zone, you’ll be on your way to creating another piece of the growth mindset.
10. GO AT YOUR OWN PACE
It’s important to remember that a growth mindset does not mean rushing through life to acquire as much knowledge as possible. Everyone has their own pace, their way of learning and growing, so it’s essential to understand which way works best for you. There is no right or wrong answer regarding how quickly you learn and implement changes in your life. Go at your own pace, and remember that as long as you’re taking steps towards developing a growth mindset, good things will likely happen as a result.
IN REVIEW
A growth mindset takes time to develop, so be patient. Instead of going from zero to one hundred, try taking baby steps. A growth mindset isn’t something that comes naturally to everyone, and even the people that do have more qualities and traits of a growth mindset still struggle to maintain it at times. Remember that life is one big learning experience and that “failure” is a part of growth. In fact, without trying (and sometimes failing), growth doesn’t exist.
If you have any questions or would like a free anxiety coaching consultation – contact me at brad@upplifter.com!
Although we strive to provide accurate general information, the information presented here is not a substitute for any kind of professional advice, and you should not rely solely on this information. Always consult a professional in the medical and health area for your particular needs and circumstances prior to making any medical or health-related decisions. For your health-related questions, please seek the advice of a licensed physician or any other qualified health care provider immediately.
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