What is growth mindset What is growth mindset

What Is a Growth Mindset: 8 Ways to Acquire a Growth Mindset

Everyone is in search of success. To achieve what you want, you have to know what is a growth mindset.

There are many assumptions about attitude. According to Carol Dweck, a Stanford psychologist, the mindset has a crucial role in bringing success. You are what you believe.

Therefore, it is necessary to understand what is growth mindset and build such a mindset for a bright future.

No one has a pure growth mindset. You can create a growth mindset1 in several ways.

1. What is Mindset?

Before you understand what is a growth mindset, you need to know about mindset as a whole. To keep it simple, a mindset is a collection of beliefs or notions that shape a person’s worldview.

Mindset influences your behaviour. It has a great impact on your life. This is why you should understand what is a growth mindset.2

Read more about mindset.

1.1. Impact of Mindset

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Photo by kylie De Guia on Unsplash

Your mindset is crucial as it determines how you live. With a growth mindset, you develop a craving for new things or a desire to work hard. It results in your success.

If you have a fixed mindset, you are less likely to succeed. You will always rely on the amount of intelligence you have and will not improve yourself. It eventually makes you desperate and unsuccessful.

Your mindset develops since childhood. It shapes your behaviour. Your approach to relationships reflects your mindset. So it is key to learn what is a growth mindset.

1.2. Types of Mindset

You can categorize mindset into two: fixed mindset and growth mindset. You can develop either of these.

Carol Dweck and her colleagues examined the different mindsets. Her theory about mindset and choosing the right mindset can help you a lot to reach your dreams.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success is her book that discusses the impact and importance of mindset.

How you view yourself and how you see the world determines your success and failure. It is possible to change your mindset. Changing your beliefs is important for growth.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

1.3. What is a Fixed Mindset?

A fixed mindset is in people who believe that they cannot change. They strongly believe that their qualities or traits cannot undergo change or improvement.

People with a  fixed mindset think that they can only be in their inherent nature. They don’t work towards improving their talents. They believe they are either good or bad at something. There is no midway.

This is a bad mindset as it does not allow you to grow. Such a mindset will not accept challenges and give up easily on anything. A fixed mindset often provides negative feedback on oneself.

If you have a fear of failure, it is due to a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset limits you from doing anything that is not your strong point.

You can change a fixed mindset. Always try to view things from a different perspective. Be open-minded. Try out new things. Challenge yourself to do something that you are scared of doing.

You don’t have to excel in everything, and you can fail. Always remind yourself to learn from your failures. You can’t change your mindset in a minute. Be consistent and introspective. Track your progress.

In this way, you can change your mindset and experience what is growth mindset.

2. What is Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is simply the opposite of a fixed mindset. People with a growth mindset believe that their talents can develop. They are more successful than people with a fixed mindset.

A growth mindset understands the efforts and learns from failures. A flexible or open mindset is not the same as a growth mindset. They are different. But people often confuse a growth mindset with those.

Usually, people have both fixed and growth mindsets. Based on their experiences, people have different mindsets. Unproductivity is not good. A growth mindset emphasizes the importance of learning.3

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Vitalii Vodolazskyi on Shutterstock

A growth mindset creates a passion for learning. Students with a growth mindset continually work to solve a problem. When you have a growth mindset, you are not worried about the outcome.

You accept challenges with a growth mindset. You will never be afraid to fail. You appreciate the process of learning and encourage yourself.

A growth mindset seeks out opportunities and builds itself without bothering the obstacles. They believe that every act of hard work can take them far in life.

Mere belief is not enough. It is the actions that determine the outcomes. People who have a growth mindset do not depend on some fixed traits. Instead, they expand their talents and grow.

Read more about the growth mindset.

3. Assess Your Mindset

Examine yourself to know whether you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. This is the only way to bring out change.

A person with a fixed mindset thinks that your amount of intelligence is unchangeable. You are what you are born with. You will also believe that you cannot improve your basic qualities and character.

Finally, you believe that people have talent by birth. If you don’t have it, then you can’t have it. This is what a fixed mindset does. If you can relate these traits to yourself, you possess a fixed mindset.

If you believe that you can change yourself, acquire talents, and develop abilities through studies and hard work, you have a growth mindset.

4. 8 Ways To Achieve a Growth Mindset

Now that you know what is a growth mindset, you must be excited to develop such a mindset for yourself. Who doesn’t love a mindset that helps you grow? So here are some tips to create a growth mindset.

11 Growth Mindset Strategies: Overcome Your Fix Mindset to Grow as a Person

4.1. Love your Imperfections

Always remember that no man is perfect. Your imperfections are not a problem. You can overcome them. Try to embrace your weaknesses.

4.2. Take Risks

Learn from your failures. Enjoy the process and find room for self-improvement. Accept challenges and grow.

Whenever you make a mistake, don’t let yourself feel that it is the end. It is the way of growing. This is how you discover your true self.

Adopt different strategies for learning. You are unique. So your ways are also unique. Find your path of learning and keep your consistency.

Believe that you can change your mind. Don’t seek approval for learning. This can deprive you of growing.

4.3. Set a Purpose

Find your purpose. Take your time and work for it. Share your progress with your well-wishers. Appreciate your small victories. It will keep you motivated.

Allow yourself to learn from your mistakes. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. Learn at your own pace.

4.4. Take Constructive Criticism

People might judge you and your ways. Remember to analyze the criticism and take positive feedback for future growth.

It’s okay to fail. That does not mean that you have to fail every time in everything. Improvement and failure are different.

4.5. Reflect on Yourself

Take time to introspect. Reflect on yourself. Understand what you are doing. Practice this once a day.

You may have many innate talents that you are confident about. When you do something out of the box, reward that hard work. Do praise the process and efforts.

4.6. Work For a Goal

Create new goals after accomplishing something. Continue your learning process. Constantly teach yourself new things.

The most crucial thing that a  person with a fixed mindset suffers from is limitations. Break your boundaries which are set by yourself.

4.7. Change Your Thoughts

Add “yet” to your life. You do not know a particular task yet, but you can learn it. This word signals that you can succeed.

Replace all the negative thoughts with positive affirmations. Say good words to yourself and others. This will attract positivity and enable growth.

4.8. Research

Read mindset-developing books like Mindset: The New Psychology of Success and Think and Grow Rich to understand more about yourself and to grow a positive mental attitude.

5. Growth Mindset Examples

If you know what is a growth mindset, then you can relate to these examples. An example of a person with a growth mindset is that they receive criticism.  They don’t run away from it. They approach it in an open-minded manner.

Another instance is about taking risks. A growth mindset happily takes up new tasks and doesn’t give up. They will have the courage to go through it.

A person who tries out different roles is also an example of a growth mindset. The eagerness to learn makes them capable of doing different tasks.

Such people are adaptable to any conditions. They can adjust themselves to changing times. Openness to change is a character trait among people who know what is a growth mindset.

Conclusion

No matter where you are or what you do, changing your mindset from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset isn’t a difficult task.

However, a good mindset always attracts success. So, teach yourself the importance of a growth mindset to have a fruitful life.

Gain the positivity of a growth mindset. Grow yourself and learn new things. It is the way you think that determines your worth. Take yourself to the heights of success with a growth mindset.

Your brain can change! So believe in yourself and reshape your mindset.

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  1. Yeager, David S., and Carol S. Dweck. “What can be learned from growth mindset controversies?.” American psychologist 75.9 (2020): 1269. ↩︎
  2. Dweck, Carol. “What having a “growth mindset” actually means.” Harvard business review 13.2 (2016): 2-5. ↩︎
  3. Sims, Ronald R., and Serbrenia J. Sims. The importance of learning styles: Understanding the implications for learning, course design, and education. Bloomsbury Publishing USA, 1995. ↩︎

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