What is it about some people that they always seem to get ahead in life? Opportunities just fall in their laps and even when faced with adversity they seem to rise above it and come out bigger, better and stronger. Research shows that people like this have a GROWTH MINDSET and it’s something that can be instilled in childhood.
Parents that encourage their children to learn, to try new things and to keep on trying even when they fail, instill a growth mindset in their kids and put them on an early trajectory for success.
As human beings it’s in our nature to grow and expand. We are always seeking new challenges, new opportunities, we always want more and that’s how we have come to evolve as a species. So if this is in our nature why are some of us better at it than others? It boils down to your attitude to learning and growing and how comfortable you are with the unknown.
In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck talks about a fixed versus a growth mindset. Here’s the difference…
FIXED-MINDSET
GROWTH-MINDSET
Obviously when painted this way, we would all rather have a growth-mindset. But realistically, we each have a bit of both. We tend to have more of a growth mindset when it comes to our passions, the things we are good at and enjoy. While we are more fixed when it comes to the areas of life we don’t naturally gravitate towards.
So how do we cultivate more of a growth mindset? Here are some simple tips to get the wheels of change turning:
Identify fixed vs growth-mindset areas
Know what types of situations you approach with a sense of dread and trepidation versus what types of situations inspire you and fill you with excitement and eagerness. Although it’s a good idea to keep growing in the areas we enjoy, in order to cultivate a growth mindset we should try to expand our horizons in the areas that we feel less comfortable with. So for example, I really need to grow more comfortable with financial management and things like budgeting, investing, how to save money and so on. For me to go out and pursue knowledge and growth in this area would be daunting but that’s all the more reason to go out and learn more about it. Once I have some basic knowledge I know I’d feel a lot more confident and interested in learning even more.
Self-exploration
This involves going into our inner landscape, into our mind’s eye, and looking at our values and the beliefs we hold around certain things, and then challenging them, and questioning them to see whether they are in fact truth, or just some falsehood we’re holding on to. So for example, this could be questioning our beliefs around what we define as success, what we define is a good career, good health, a good relationship, a good family life. What does it mean to be a good spouse or partner? What does it mean to be a good mother, daughter, friend, and redefining relationships according to what you value, as opposed to what society at large values. So really exploring your own beliefs, agendas and values and how they have shaped your attitude and behavior towards the people that you interact with in this world.
Self-reflection
Where self exploration explores the internal, self reflection is more externally focused. It’s about looking at the skill set that you’ve built up over time, your knowledge, expertise, and accomplishments. It’s important to reflect on all of these achievements, so that you can see how far you have come and how much you’ve grown. If we never take time to acknowledge our wins in life, then oftentimes, we feel that we haven’t grown. And that can be quite discouraging and may cause us to fall into the trap of not wanting to try and not wanting to grow. So it’s really important to look at, for example, things like your career. Where you are now versus day one, when you started out. How many new skills have you mastered? How many new people have you met? How you are now able to organize, and manage your time and your workflow so that you’re more productive? When you look at all your skills you may find many of them are transferable to different areas of life. For example, my time as a Ballet dancer taught me the transferable skills of self-discipline and teamwork, which served me well during my time in the corporate world.
Taking action
This is the secret sauce – putting yourself in an environment that forces you to try new activities, and helps you eventually learn to enjoy the process of growth. Putting yourself out there, out of your comfort zone and forcing yourself to learn new skills is really the fastest way to improve confidence. Because after tomorrow, you’ll know more than you did today. So you will have already grown. Even though you may not ever be a complete master or expert in any of these things that you choose to learn or grow in, the fact is that you’ve taken that step and you have learned something. Now you have experience. So taking action produces results. And seeing the results is what gives you confidence. Being a doer and not a thinker or talker means you are ok with uncertainty and not being in control. With not knowing how things are going to turn out but trusting in your ability to problem-solve and figure it out. Practicing this regularly will build your confidence and create an appetite for risk, challenge and growth.
Repetition
Regardless of our age, our brains are capable of learning new things. Neuroplasticity is the study of our brain’s ability to change, to grow and to form new neural pathways. When you perform a task for the first time, you’ve got to follow a series of steps. The more times you perform these steps in the correct sequence, the more the pathway is formed. Like taking a series of steps through a field, the more times you follow the same steps the more of a pathway is formed. In the brain, these neural pathways are called circuits and new ones can be created anytime with enough repetition. These circuits allow you to perform that same task with more speed, skill and accuracy. So the power of repetition is really important for growing and learning. And it shows us that no matter our age, we are able to learn new things all the time. Having a growth mindset is being okay with repetition and knowing that in order to truly master a new skill set, you have to perform it again and again and again.
Surround yourself with growth-minded people
You want to be surrounded by people who actively pursue their dreams, who go after what they want, fearlessly and without hesitation, who keep trying until they get it right and don’t back off at the first sign of failure. When you surround yourself with people who are the opposite, people who don’t believe in themselves, then they won’t believe in you. People who don’t go after their dreams, they won’t encourage you to go after yours. People who don’t keep trying until they succeed, won’t encourage you to get up and try again when you fail. They’ll tell you to face facts, give up, to preserve yourself, and to just stay in your comfort zone where you know you’re safe and happy and nothing can go wrong. Whether that means spending less time with negative people or just creating more solid boundaries with them, knowing which people inspire you and which drain your energy is key to cultivating a growth mindset.
I hope you’ve found a message in this info and can take a little of it with you as you move forward in your life.
