let's talk about the growth mindset

The theory of a growth mindset was - and I am not kidding - a game changer for me.

For someone who was stuck with the belief that I was born with a level of intelligence and that is that - that it is impossible to get smarter and then learning I had it all wrong. That statement is 100% not true and where is the research and evidence to prove it. Can you imagine…

“People who believe that they can increase their intelligence through effort and challenge actually get smarter and do better in school, work, and life over time.” Quote, Mindset Works Inc

This is the gist of it…

You may have a growth mindset in some areas of life and fixed in others, in fact, it is likely we all have a mixture. I believe the important part is understanding the difference and being able to catch yourself in the act, which prompts change.

Simply put.

A fixed mindset is believing you cannot change, develop and grow.

A growth mindset is believing you can achieve, with effort and continued learning.

Just like an athlete, if you reinforce what you learn through practice and if you believe in your capacity to succeed, you CAN and WILL. Science shows us the brain can get stronger (it is a muscle, after all).

If you go to a gym 5 days a week to build muscle, you will. You exercise, get stronger, build the muscle and see the results. If you stop, your muscles shrink and get weaker. When you practice and learn new things, you are exercising your brain which enables your brain to change and get larger similar to muscles when you exercise.

Just fascinating, isn’t it? It is incredible to know that you can actively improve your intelligence and brain health. Research is continuing to show how this can improve memory, ability and health. And this is just the beginning.

You mind is similar, the more you practice the better you will get at understanding your thought patterns and witnessing when your mind is going off on a tangent that isn’t healthy.

The great thing about this is, you are in control and have the power to change your thoughts and direct your mind, and therefore you can develop a growth mindset.

How? Here are some quick and simple actions you can take today to make some big shifts in your mindset.

1. Exercise your brain. Do things differently. Brush your teeth with your opposite hand, drive a different way home, paint with your non favored hand, learn to cook a new cuisine, memorise your shopping list. Your brain wants to learn and exercising your brain will help you develop your mindset by the enjoyment of learning and achieving. Simple wins create a positive reaction to want to do it again and learn more.

2. Catch yourself in the act. Pop a rubber band around your wrist and every time you hear your mind apply the ‘cant’ attitude, flick the rubber band. It will create a physical reaction to your thought so you can start to remove yourself from those thoughts and take a step to creating change. As Brooke Castillo from the Life Coach School puts it. – “Thoughts create your feelings. Feelings create your actions. Actions create your results. Circumstances are neutral”. What does this mean? Your current Mindset and situation are a direct result from your thoughts and belief systems. When you can start to catch yourself thinking this way, you can start to take action. Those feelings ultimately drive your actions and results, so you want them to be positive.

3. YET – listening to your language. This is a big takeaway from ‘Mindset, Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential by Dr Carol Dweck’ and so simple yet SO powerful. When you catch yourself in the act of negative thoughts (you have flicked that rubber band) add YET to the end of the sentence. ‘I can’t do that job because I am not smart enough – YET’ or ‘I can’t change my career because I haven’t studied – YET’. This will navigate you to a growth mindset and start to change those negative beliefs to believing it IS possible and something that can actually happen.

What areas do you have a growth mindset? What areas do you have a fixed mindset?
Hope this article helped in defining them and being able to reflect on your own mindset.

For more information on how you can build confidence in your career, uncover your full potential and truly thrive, download Your Application Toolkit