What Is A Growth Mindset? Growth Vs Fixed Mindset
Reading Time: 5 minutes Want to know what is a growth mindset?
What are the differences between a person with a fixed mindset and a person with a growth mindset?
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Everything depends on the way we think. Our mindset is the reason we see the world the way we do and it’s what drives us and keeps us going on achieving our goals.
Simply put, it is the key to success for all of us.
But there’s more you need to know, in order to develop a growth mindset of your own…
Growth Vs Fixed Mindset: What’s the difference?
If you ask someone what’s the first step in learning something new, most of the time most people won’t know how to answer, some people will say the “right resources” or the “right mentor“, which in context are true, but they forget something.
The number one step in learning something new is the ability to believe in ourselves that we can make it. This applies to everything in life, not just learning.
This is what a growth mindset is: It’s to believe that you can achieve everything, with the right amount of effort.
On the other hand, a fixed mindset is that we have predefined skills and abilities, usually due to genetics, and that a person is only good in one area of his life and can reach a certain level of success.
There are two kinds of people, those with results and those with excuses.
Uknown.
Why having a fixed mindset is bad?
Carol Dweck, the author of the book “Mindset”, found a lot of negatives while doing her research on this topic, but I chose the negatives that I find myself guilty of doing in the past.
Carol Dweck conducted a test at a high school, and the kids were told that their grades will not be published.
1. You are being dishonest with yourself and others.
After the test, a large percentage of the kids that were categorized as “growth mindset”, were more willing to say that they didn’t do so well in the test. On the other hand, the “fixed mindset” group was more willing to lie about their performance on the test.
2. You take less risks.
In the same test, the kids were given a difficult exercise and were told that they would get a reward if they solved it. The 80% of the kids that were categorized as “fixed mindset”, did not, in fact, took the risk.
In her book, she mentions that:
I’ve seen so many people with this one consuming goal of proving themselves (fixed mindset)— in the classroom, in their careers, and in their relationships. Every situation calls for a confirmation of their intelligence, personality, or character. Every situation is evaluated: Will I succeed or fail? Will I look smart or dumb? Will I be accepted or rejected? Or will I feel like a winner or a loser?
Carol S. Dweck, Mindset.
How to change your mindset from fixed to growth
1. Observe your actions and thoughts.
The first thing we can do to change our mindset is to observe our thoughts we have about ourselves and detect the fixed mindset in our vocabulary and actions.
For me, I repeatedly said to myself that I was awful in social situations. I started to believe I didn’t have any social skills.
When I detected that thought and I was aware of it, I put the time and effort into researching ways to be more social, etc.
I wasn’t done until I was sure with myself that I can go to an event or gathering and be confident about my communication skills.
2. Change your vocabulary.
Observing and detecting these self-sabotaging thoughts is the first way to change your fixed mindset into a growth one.
Carol Dweck in her book suggests starting using the word “yet” in our everyday vocabulary. “I’m not that good at maths… YET” or “I’m not fit enough… YET“. You get the point.
This programs our brains to think that we have work to do, but that doesn’t mean we can’t make it.
You can also use the phrase “right now“. It has the same purpose and meaning as the word “yet”.
“I don’t have any communication skills… right now!”
3. Start with baby steps.
Detect an area of your life that you have a fixed mindset about it and start with a small action towards it.
Let’s say you think you are bad at drawing. A small action is to give 20-30 minutes for it. Sit down and draw something you’d like, an apple, a house, anything, but with no help.
Then, search on Youtube for how to draw an apple and watch it with 100% of your focus. When the video finishes, close your phone and re-draw an apple.
You’ll be blown away by the differences! In a such small period of time, you got way better at drawing an apple.
Use that progress as fuel to become better at drawing.
This is called “The snowball effect”. It’s like letting off a snowball from the top of a hill.
As it rolls, the ball will pick up more snow, gaining more mass and surface area, and picking up even more snow and momentum as it rolls along.
Imagine that this is exactly what a growth mindset really is, but with more duration.
This is a great tip because you literally prove to yourself and your mind that you CAN do it.
4. View it as a video game.
The whole self-improvement journey can become a really nice video-game, where you are the main character.
It’s literally like when you level up in a game, you acquire new skills, new abilities, and experience.
The best part of viewing it as a game is that you don’t lose lives. There are no mistakes, just lessons.
This way you can’t lose lives. You only gain experience for the future.
5. Learn how to learn
The most important skill you’ll need to acquire in life is the skill to learn how to learn.
In other words, how to be more efficient with the time you dedicate to certain tasks.
It’s the skill that will teach you what is like to have a growth mindset.
Going from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset takes time
I’m not in the spot that I am today, writing this article about growth mindset, because of some overnight enlightenment I had.
Our brains love habits and routines. It’s very difficult for it to dump the things that it does every single day.
So if you have gotten used to having a fixed mindset, a mindset that restricts you and your abilities to grow and become better as a person, it won’t be an easy task to completely change the way your brain works overnight.
Therefore, with all of the steps and things you read in this article, you should actively work on them every day.
I didn’t wake up one day and my whole mindset and perspective changed, of course not.
You can do this!
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