First of all, you might be asking yourself, what is the expression growth mindset referring to in this context? So, as a concept, some dictionaries might define it as the established set of attitudes held by someone. Therefore, you could say it is kind of like a pattern or something that predetermines your point of view in a way. But that doesn’t mean it is static, or that you can’t choose nor change it, on the contrary… Viktor Frankl, an Austrian existential philosopher (among many other things), once said:
“The last of the human freedoms: to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way”
Indeed, it’s a freedom that should be consciously exercised daily.
Also, you may be asking, what does that have to do with fixation or growth? And then again, it has a lot to do with it. Since you can choose the window through which you see life, you must know the most common one that might blur your landscape—and how to get from there, to a crystal clear one that will lead you to actual success and much more gratification. And, without further ado, here are some tips to help you identify and shift your mindset:
Try Not To Take Things Too Personally
Easier said than done, but this is vital when it comes to growth. Where someone with a fixed mindset would get upset, a growth mindset person would be grateful. How come? Well, pointing out an error might upset someone who wants everything to be perfect and leaves no margin for mistakes; but to another person, it might feel like a well-intentioned favor, so they will improve their performance. The secret is to see criticism as a chance to grow, rather than an attack on your traits and abilities.
The look you get from people when you ask lots of questions might be intimidating, and just that look could lead you to think that you’re good or bad at what you’re doing, but this concrete way of binary thinking is one of the main characteristics of a fixed mindset.
You can choose to see those looks in a gray area, where you prioritize the information you are getting over the annoyed look of the lady who has been doing the task for the past decade and could do it in her sleep because you know that she wasn’t born knowing what she does now, and at first she also had to ask for help.
Look for Learning Opportunities
In most circumstances, there is a lesson. Seeing that lesson, and looking for it constantly is the best way to grow. Where there’s something you don’t know, feedback to be received, there is an opportunity to learn.
Skills can be improved. Effort and training are part of the path that will lead you to success. But to be able to develop new, or better skills, you must be open to the almost certain possibility of failing at some point and don’t let it define you. Growth is more about progress than a result.
When a kid grows, it doesn’t happen overnight. It is not easy; there are changes and lots of ups and downs. It is a journey, and that is the beauty of it; in any circumstance, growing is an option that is worth choosing.
Take the Risk of a Challenge
Don’t be afraid to fail. Challenges can seem scary, but they are great ways to measure you and identify aspects that need to be worked on a little more.
Difficult situations tend to bring the most rewarding outcomes, whether they turn out as you wanted or not.
If you want to push yourself onto the next level, then you need to test your abilities, understanding that they are not unchangeable or innate.
It’s not like in the eighteenth century when they thought that intelligence was inherited and static, now we know for a fact that abilities need to be trained to develop and improve. Take the risk of saying I don’t know yet, but I will learn—or the one of doing something you don’t feel very confident about but have the preparation to do. Take the risk of putting yourself in learning situations and see them as such.
Compete With Yourself
Other’s success does not diminish yours. Sometimes kids in school try to increase their accomplishments by undermining somebody else’s; by saying things like “I got a B on the test, but he got a D”, and even though it seems childish, some adults think that way too, like someone succeeding is a bummer because that person could do it and it somehow means you can’t (it doesn’t!).
Other people’s success should be a source of inspiration because if they could, that means that it is possible, and with enough work and dedication you could be there too.
So, competition needs to stop being about others and start being about you versus the person you were yesterday—about improving your flaws and mistakes and trying to be better each day, acknowledging that you are doing the best you can with what you have.
Setting your mindset to give you the room you need to grow is everyday work or a habit that you need to check up on now and then. It is easy to fall back into the comfort of a fixed mindset, but depriving yourself of growing is like setting yourself up for being stuck in the same place. Growing is a journey, sometimes uphill, sometimes downhill, but at the end of the day, you are closer to the end of the rainbow. So tell us, what are you doing to get to that side?
See more articles by Laura Navarro.
