If you have not already, you should read Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. According to her, we embrace either a fixed or growth mindset. Shifting to a growth mindset is one of the most useful things we can do to challenge ourselves and others.
What’s the Difference
People with a fixed mindset believe that their intelligence, talent, and abilities are set. They see failure as highlighting their inabilities.
People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve through hard work and effort. They like new challenges and learn from their mistakes.
Research has shown that people with a growth mindset tend to be more successful, happy, and resilient in school, work, and life. Benefits include:
- Increased resilience in the face of challenges.
- Greater willingness to take risks.
- Greater satisfaction with life.
- Improved performance.
How do they get these results? People working from a growth mindset are more likely to:
- Be motivated by the mastery and growth they see in themselves and others.
- Seek out and work with people that challenge them in many areas.
- Seek out and challenge themselves to take on new things.
- Believe that they can accomplish anything they set their mind to.
- See mistakes and failures as opportunities to learn and grow.
- Celebrate success to reinforce that goals are achievable.
- Be open to feedback and critique.
- Persist in the face of setbacks.
- Make joy-based decisions that align with their values.
People with a fixed mindset are likely to do the opposite of the above. Fear is the opposite of joy for the last bullet. They see challenges as threatening because failure will show their limits. They need to prove that they’re worthy, even if it means taking shortcuts or avoiding challenges.
Everyone has Limiting Beliefs
I read the book and decided that the evidence suggests I work from the growth mindset Dweck describes. I’m destined to be successful and can move on. Wrong! Even the most enlightened and self-reflective among us have fixed mindset thoughts.
My big breakthrough and what many miss is that, although I normally tend toward a growth mindset, there are times and areas where a fixed mindset sneaks in.
For example, I often tell myself I’m not a people person. With this fixed mindset, I shy away from some social situations with the idea that people might not like the introverted me.
Looking at this with a growth mindset reframes the idea to accepting that the more I do it, the better I get and the fear is likely unfounded. Starting with joy and a growth mindset, I can recognize that I have unique experiences and I am inquisitive and listen well to add value to most social interactions.
Sometimes I catch my inner voice sabotaging my growth mindset. There are lots of subtle ways this happens. Be on the lookout. If you hear yourself saying these or related things, you are probably allowing a fixed mindset to creep in:
- I’m not good at that one thing
- I’m an imposter
- I don’t know where to start
- It’s too hard
- I might fail
- I’m not as good as them
- I don’t know where to start
- What if I’m wrong
- There’s not enough time
- I need to know more before I start
- There must be an easier way
- Someone/something else got in the way
- I’ll feel awkward
- I’m too young/too old
- I’m not creative/outgoing/serious enough
- I don’t have a choice
- I’ll never be able to do that
- It’s not worth trying
- I might look silly
- People might not like/accept me
So, stay alert. Know that it can affect you and be prepared to take action. Here’s a process to overcome limiting mindsets:
- Be aware of what a fixed mindset looks and feels like and be diligent to notice when it impacts decisions and behaviors. Encourage others to help point it out.
- Identify and acknowledge when any version of fixed mindset or fear grips you. Give it a name. Be specific. This has a dramatic effect on taming the impact and moving forward.
- Challenge any negative thoughts. Accept that you don’t want to fail, etc, but you don’t NEED to avoid the unwanted outcome. With a growth mindset, you will learn and get better from any setbacks. Review the bullets above about working from a growth mindset. Ask what you would do without fear, working from a growth mindset.
- Take action in that direction. Focus on the process of learning and improving rather than only the outcome. Accept that you will make mistakes and learn along the way.
- Notice and celebrate when you meet a goal you set from the resulting bold action. Use successes to reinforce that growth and achievement are possible with the right mindset.
Matt Mochary challenges the CEOs he coaches to shift from a fixed mindset and fear-based decisions by making a bet. He bets that doing the opposite will turn out great. He says he has never lost when he has challenged someone who was deciding while working from these limiting mindsets to do the opposite.
Once you do this a few times, you only need to be reminded of the destructive mindset you are working from to drive better decisions and actions.
Don’t be complacent. Everyone has destructive thoughts that can cause them to operate with a fixed, fear-based mindset. Learn to identify when it happens and shift to a growth mindset to accomplish whatever you want.
Please connect, share, comment, like, and reach out. Message me if I can answer any questions or serve in any way.
May you find Passion, Joy, and Freedom in all your pursuits.
Horizon Line Group 