Growth Mindset Matters. 6 Lesser-Known Benefits.

Research has demonstrated that embracing a growth mindset can help in accomplishing your objectives. The initial step towards improvement is believing that you can enhance in a particular area. This concept was developed by Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford University, and is extensively discussed in her book "Mindset, The New Psychology of Success." Dweck explains how individuals with a growth mindset firmly believe that intelligence and talents can be cultivated through effort, effective instruction, and perseverance.

Here is what you can explore in this post:

1. Understanding the concept of growth mindset
2. Differentiating a growth mindset from a fixed mindset
3. The benefits of having a growth mindset
4. Six questions to help foster a growth mindset through small actions

 Let`s deep-dive and discover each one more.

1. What is a Growth Mindset?

According to Entrepreneur Media, a growth mindset is defined as (I quote) "a belief that a person's abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work." Individuals with a growth mindset firmly believe that with practice and effort, they can improve in various areas. This stands in contrast to a fixed mindset, which assumes that certain traits are predetermined and cannot be improved upon. Having a growth mindset is crucial for personal and professional growth. It means believing in the potential for improvement and embracing learning. For more information, you can visit Carol Dweck's blog: Carol Dweck: A Summary of Growth and Fixed Mindsets.

2. Differentiating a Growth Mindset from a Fixed Mindset

A fixed mindset is the belief that intelligence and talent are unchangeable. Individuals with a fixed mindset often feel limited in their ability to alter their intelligence level, skills, or circumstances. In contrast, individuals with a growth mindset can bounce back from setbacks more easily because they believe in their ability to succeed again.

According to what I`ve learnt recently, while doing research for an assignment for an online course, here are five examples of a fixed mindset:

1. Believing your inherent qualities are unchangeable. You think that your talents and intelligence are fixed and prefer to stick to familiar tasks instead of believing in your potential and striving to improve your abilities.
2. Remaining stagnant even when you know that change is necessary.
3. Believing that success is solely about being better than others. Instead of acting to better yourself, you constantly complain and compare yourself to others.
4. Thinking that it's too late to make changes due to various reasons. This could be feeling too “this” or too “that” for something or staying in a toxic situation without taking responsibility and action.
5. Focusing solely on the results rather than recognizing the valuable lessons and opportunities that the journey can provide.

Before I move forward, I think here it is also important to be aware of toxic positivity. Toxic positivity is defined by Satriopamungkas, Yudani, and Wirawan (2020) as having the inclination to “only” see the good side of situations and ignoring other emotions. The “good vibes only”, “think only positive”, “it could be worse if you were in another x, y, z” and similar sentences are not helpful. I`ll cover that in another post and if you are interested, click to explore more here about toxic positivity.

3. Benefits of Having a Growth Mindset

Having a growth mindset can be beneficial in various ways. By adopting this mindset, you can thrive and develop in challenging situations, according to C. Dweck.

In a nutshell, here are six advantages of having a growth mindset:

1. It allows you to learn from your mistakes and use them as valuable learning experiences.
2. It boosts your self-esteem because you understand that improvement comes with practice and effort.
3. It helps you stay motivated even when things don't go according to your plan.
4. It enables you to build stronger relationships with others, celebrate their successes, and find inspiration and motivation from them.
5. It makes you more adaptable and open to change.
6. It encourages you to actively seek feedback and be open to constructive criticism.

4. Six Questions to Help Foster a Growth Mindset through Small Actions

Remember having a growth or fixed mindset doesn`t mean that you cannot change between these mindsets. Looking to foster a growth mindset?

 Here are 6 questions I`d like to share to help you get started:

1. What are your strengths? Take a moment to write down your top 5 strengths.
2. What are your values? Consider what success or fulfilment in life or your career looks like to you. What will it take to get there?
3. What new skills do you want to learn? Identify which skills you want to start learning.
4. How will you focus on progress rather than just the end goal?
5. How will you practice self-compassion when you face challenges?
6. How will you cultivate gratitude for your journey? Remember, being thankful for both small and large adversities can help keep you motivated.

Thank you for staying and reading until here, dear reader. Here is what you explored in this post:

1. Understanding the concept of a growth mindset
2. Differentiating a growth mindset from a fixed mindset
3. The benefits of having a growth mindset
4. Six questions to help foster a growth mindset through small actions

Conclusion

On a personal note, I've observed that the people from different walks of life and career whom I find inspiring around me showcase actions that represent a growth mindset most of the time. I observe that they celebrate with others and share opportunities, they get genuinely happy with others` successes in life or career, they encourage and connect people in their network, they don`t need to be right all the time and are open to being challenged about their ideas in constructive way, they don`t think they know it all, they are humble (not sure if this relevant and evidence based, and it is still an observation;)), and open to learning new things even after zillions (:)) of years of experience or with very little experience. I hope this post was valuable for you. 

Resources: 

•  Understanding The Growth Mindset (entrepreneur.com)
• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success by Carol Dweck
• Develop Good Habits Blog  

When you are ready, there are 3 ways I can help you with:

1. Explore free resources: Resources to Learn for Free 
2. Work with me as an Executive Coach: Career Coaching Offers for Executives and Founders 
3. Work with me as a Digital Strategy Consultant: Digital Marketing and Digital Transformation Consultant