7 Ways To Develop A Growth Mindset

"In one world, effort is a bad thing. It, like failure, means you're not smart or talented. If you were, you wouldn't need effort. In the other world, effort is what makes you smart or talented." –Carol Dweck

The idea of a growth mindset is fundamental to coaching culture and is a vital part of leading a team of people towards greatness.

Today, we're talking about all things of a growth mindset - what it is, how to develop it!

Before jumping into more detail on the growth mindset, it makes sense to discuss different types of mindset, so…

Fixed Mindset

What if someone told you that you would never go anywhere? What if you were told that no matter how hard you try and no matter what you do, you will always stay right where you are? What if who you are right now is the only person you could ever become - faults and all?

Whether this is true or not, if believed, this narrative will impact your ability to grow, learn, and move beyond your current circumstances. Without the foresight to know that you have untapped potential and that your life is full of possibilities, your mindset will begin to form walls that restrict your life and its momentum towards positive change.

What we've described here is called a "fixed mindset," and while most people aren't directly told that they "will never go anywhere in life," we have each, most likely, been subject to subtle treatment and language that has caused us to develop a fixed mindset.

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is simply the belief that our basic abilities can be developed and improved through dedication and hard work. It's not so much that this belief is some kind of magic. It's just that without a growth mindset, we don't exert the required effort and so we remain perpetually stuck.

But with a growth mindset, we can break through the stuck-ness and achieve the results we desire, whether that be at work, in our relationships, or in other aspects of our lives.

In short, when a fixed mindset says, "I'm not equipped for this," a growth mindset says, "I can't do this right now, but I'm going to learn!" For someone with a growth mindset, there is always a path to progress, and with enough hard work, success is attainable.

Great works are performed, not by strength, but by perseverance.

Do You Have A Growth Mindset?

Do you believe that you were born and raised with a fixed set of skills and abilities - such as your IQ - that you had from birth and will stay with you your entire life? Or do you believe that your ideas and beliefs are ever-evolving, that you can learn new skills if you work at it, and that your wisdom and intelligence grows with each new experience? If you said "yes" to the first question, you have what is referred to as a "fixed mindset." If you said "yes" to the second question, you probably have what Stanford professor Carol Dweck calls a "growth mindset."

Why Does Growth Mindset Matter?

If we have a "fixed mindset," we may shy away from challenges because we do not want to feel embarrassed or humiliated in front of others - who does, right?! But this can be problematic because our fear of making mistakes can lead us to avoid challenges and new experiences - experiences which would help us grow, improve ourselves in important ways, and create the life we desire.

What's the Point of a Growth Mindset?

As you can piece together, a growth mindset is essential to learning. When we believe that our talents and skills aren't static and that they can adapt and grow as we do, we start to put more effort into all manners of life.

While what Lexia Learning focused on is the teaching environment, this mindset can apply in all aspects of our lives. From getting more in shape to being a better partner or friend, and more.

When we have a growth mindset, we:

• Start to look for challenges.
• Perform better than others. That's because we see failures as reasons to try again with more knowledge than before.
• Have a better grasp of why success and advancing in life means for us.

This is only the beginning though. There are all kinds of perks that come from being better at the aspects of our life on top of that. Better health means having more energy to do things and be around the people you care about.

You can say that this mindset is a foundation for a variety of perks that stretch over our entire lives.

7 Ways To Develop A Growth Mindset

There are a number of avenues for us to be developing a growth mindset. Changing mindset may seem daunting, but by taking baby steps, anyone who wants to can build a "growth mindset." Here's how:

Focus on Your Effort

The effort is an obvious one, but in terms of a growth mindset, it's one you have to be careful about. While we will be working towards our goal regardless, there are elements along the way that can disrupt us.

For example, consider praise. Praise can help us in pushing forward. After all, we all love a nice pat on the back or some words of encouragement. But it's something that you have to be careful about.

One study has already toted praise as a good intrinsic motivator. But it doesn't mean any sort of praise works.

It's important that while putting in the effort, we are praising our efforts instead of our abilities. For example, don't praise your ability to be great at your job. Praise the effort and devotion to your craft instead.

Become A Curious Learner

Act as a child does on a daily basis, live in wonderment, and discover the beauty of life. Decide today, to continually focus on learning and growing.

Begin by asking more questions and being more curious about everyone you meet, the journey they have been on, and what they can teach you.

For every person I have met, every experience I have had teaches me about the world, myself, and others. It is one of the many delights within this world for the unquenchable thirst for knowledge that helps me to move forward with undeniable gusto, unbounded love, and provides the deepest sense of appreciation for those who have touched my heart.

Approaching New Tasks

It doesn't have to be new tasks specifically. It could be a new path in your life or a new client. Whatever the case is, we tend to experience anxiousness whenever we step out of our comfort zone and have to do something new.

A fixed mindset in this scenario is convincing yourself that you can't make them happy or that things won't go well for you at all.

A growth mindset example of this is having the confidence that you'll make it through. Sure, it's possible that you will make mistakes, but it's an opportunity for you to learn.

Receiving Criticism

Criticism can lead us to be defensive as our brain can interpret these as attacks on our character and identity. We can run into these scenarios in all kinds of ways, but a common one includes talking to our boss or manager about our performance.

In this scenario, a growth mindset example would be walking into those kinds of meetings with an open, relaxed mind. One thing to keep in mind about this is that you and your boss are on the same side. Therefore, whenever there is talk about performance or areas that could be improved upon, know that your boss is keeping your best interests in mind and that this is an opportunity for you to grow and learn.

This can lead to you doing better with your craft.

Make a new goal for every goal accomplished

You'll never be done learning. Just because your midterm exam or some office challenge is over doesn't mean you should stop being interested in a subject. Growth-minded people know how to constantly create new goals to keep themselves stimulated.

Love Takes You To The Top

Those with a growth mindset who naturally love what they do, rise to the top more organically.

With some of them having no aspirations to go there, it is purely a spin-off from doing what they absolutely love and continuing to do so with all of their heart and soul even when faced with adversity and challenges.

Speed is not important

 When you have a growth mindset, the end results are less of a focus. Instead, you fully engage and put effort into the process, no matter how long it takes. Incidentally, focusing on the process often also improves results, because you did put a lot of effort in along the way.

Final Thoughts

Now that you have some specific growth mindset examples, you will be able to better engage with your own growth mindset. Not only that, but a growth mindset can shed some light on where new decisions may lead us or where past decisions have limited us.

Regardless, what matters moving forward is that we are growing and adapting as best we can.