Have you wondered why some people are completely stuck in their ways, while others are on a constant path of learning?
What separates Camp A from Camp B? Is it their attitudes, motivations, or belief systems? Is it simply who they are?
It’s about having a growth mindset: the conviction that every aspect of our identity is cultivated, not innate. Nothing is set in stone, and through diligent effort, you can become more proficient in any endeavor.
The growth mindset is the foundation of personal growth. Let’s look at what the growth mentality is and how you can train it in yourself.
Adopting the growth mindset
The growth mindset is a realization that you are a work in progress. It’s the belief that every trait, skill, ability, and characteristic can be developed to mastery, and there is always a step further to take it.
People who have a growth mindset believe that their lives are the result of their actions. They will view the mind as a machine that is always learning, growing, and developing – right to the day they die.
People who don’t have a growth mindset tend to believe their minds are fixed beyond adolescence. Their personality, intelligence, and characteristics are set in stone – and no amount of work will change it. Everyone has been given a hand of cards, and we must play with what we’re given.
Someone with a growth mindset will believe they could become an astronaut if they put their mind to it. Likewise, they could become a saint, a rockstar, or an influential politician.
After all, why not?
Sure, I’m not saying it’s going to be an easy journey by any means. It may require a lifetime of dedication, learning, studying, and practicing, but it is possible if you apply yourself right.
If you agree, likely you have a growth mindset. Otherwise, if you focus on all the barriers, then your lens may be shrouded in self-doubt and uncertainty – by pessimism. In this sense, it may benefit you by adopting the growth mindset to realistically see why it is possible.
Benefits of a growth mindset
The growth mindset is a particular lens that allows you to see an abundance of opportunities in the world. It’s an optimistic mindset that encourages growth, hope, motivation, and inspired action.
If perceive success to be the result of learning the right information, then you’re going to apply yourself. If you believe there is no point because you have hit a cap, you’re probably not going to try.
When I was younger, I didn’t understand life. I didn’t understand school, social relationships, how to manage my mental health, or how to learn.
Worst of all, I didn’t have any desire to learn these skills and abilities that would benefit my life, because I didn’t know these things could be learned. I thought a charismatic person was born like that. That’s just who they are, and I’m just a shy, awkward kid.
Unfortunate, but that’s just how it is.
As a result of this fixed mindset where I thought I was trapped as my inferior self, my life was quite stagnant. Not much changed for a long time, and I was as unhappy as ever.
At one point, I discovered that dating skills could be learned. After relentlessly researching how to improve myself in the eyes of a lady, this opened Pandora’s box.
If I could learn to date, then what else could I learn?
This created a major shift in my reality and marked the conception of the growth mindset.
I continued growing, and even though I am certainly not perfect, I have come a very long way from the person I once was.
Embracing continuous learning
The growth mindset is to put yourself on a path of continuous learning. If you are constantly striving to become your best self to make the most of your life experience, then you probably have a growth mindset.
A growth mindset = being on a personal growth journey, something I highly advocate.
It’s important to view your life as a continuous learning curve.
Think about it this way.
You might not be able to achieve whatever you want to achieve, but you can become the person who can. Developing the growth mindset pushes you to develop yourself into a more competent person who can achieve the things you want.
Without the conscious will to grow into a better person, you stagnate.
Stagnation is spiritual suicide as it prevents you from capitalizing on your potential.
Ultimately, your growth journey is the most fruitful path you can walk as it leads to some incredible life experiences. There is nothing you can’t achieve as long as you develop the skills, qualities, and traits needed to achieve it.
You are an impressive ecosystem of skills, characteristics, beliefs, and so much more at play. So what can you do to make sure this ecosystem thrives?
Learn!
Growth mindset vs fixed mindset
The concept of the growth mindset was popularized by Carol Dweck (an American psychologist), who segmented it into the growth mindset and the fixed mindset.
Dweck suggests that on one end of the spectrum, you have the growth mindset which is a big factor in success (read about her studies here). On the other hand, you have a fixed mindset (stagnation in your patterns and programs).
The growth mindset encourages you to continue growing and to use every opportunity that life presents to grow.
As growth applies to every aspect of your life, the growth mindset applies to everything too. There is nothing you can do in life where knowledge doesn’t benefit you.
The fixed mindset is a mentality where you have no desire to learn or grow.
You live in absolutes.
This means that everything that forms the collective of you including your skills, personality traits, and belief systems are concrete. This is a limiting belief system that stunts your growth because it doesn’t inspire you to take action or consciously learn.
Examples of the growth mindset
Life provides so many opportunities to grow.
When you start to see these opportunities in everything you do, whether it’s your work, relationships, hobbies, or avocations, you will speed up the process of growth.
Therefore, keep an eye open for learning opportunities in everyday life.
These might come in the form of conversations, observations, work, traveling, painful lessons, things that went wrong, and things that went right.
You can extract wisdom from every experience, and that’s what you need to do if you want to accelerate your learning curve.
Growth mindset characteristics
Instead of seeing the growth mindset as something that’s taught, look at it as a shift in perspective that you need to make.
This shift in perception facilitates more growth in your life on all levels, which results in a better life experience.
Let’s look at some common characteristics of people with a growth mindset, so you can adopt them too:
- Be persistent: Realize that any failure is the result of not yet building the required competence.
- Be adaptable: People who have a growth mindset adapt to their circumstances and make the necessary changes.
- Embrace challenges: Challenges are good because they provide an opportunity for you to stretch yourself. If you don’t challenge yourself, you’re not going to learn.
- Seek feedback: Internal and external feedback provides information to help you improve.
- Reflect on failures: Reflect on things that didn’t go to plan (and things that did too). Engage the feedback loop to continuously improve.
- Believe in success: No matter how many times you fail, you will always have reason to try again. As long as you’re continuously working towards your goals, you can’t fail.
Develop a growth mindset
Everything begins with desire. If you desire to have something, then you’re going to push yourself to attain it. When you have a strong enough desire to grow, you will consciously look for ways to grow.
By developing the willingness to grow, suddenly life becomes a learning curve where every situation, good or bad, aids your development.
Here are some things you can do to develop a growth mindset:
Constantly expand on your skillsets
Look at skills as tools.
The more skills you develop, the more tools you have in your arsenal.
If you’re a construction worker who has the same routine day in and day out, you can learn more about the equipment you work with, procedures, mastering skills and techniques. You can learn more about the environment you work in, the people you work with, and the business you work for.
If you work in customer service, you can learn about the product you sell, customer etiquette, and social interactions. You can learn about management and operations.
There is always more to be learned regardless of what you are doing, and this knowledge will always have some practical value in your life.
You just need to train your eye to see it.
Be a creator
Realize that you are limitless.
There is no cap to your evolution, and certainly no limit to the amount you can expand your consciousness.
Your mind is elastic.
Even though your upbringing has a big influence over who are, you are responsible for your life journey, nobody else.
There are always more opportunities to learn, despite what you’re doing. Furthermore, personal growth is a bottomless pit. You can get to deeper levels of well-being and wisdom, but there will always be more to learn.
Engage the feedback loop
The feedback loop means that you reflect on your performance in any given situation, and think about what you could do better next time.
If you’re constantly engaging the feedback loop, you’re going to constantly be learning from your experiences.
To grow as quickly as possible, make sure you reflect a lot.
Introspect.
Think about what you can do, and how you can better yourself. Your internal processes serve as a powerful aid on your growth journey.
Open your mind
Opening your mind is hugely important to develop a growth mindset.
An open mind is a catalyst for personal growth as it allows you to absorb more ideas and perspectives about the world around you.
You can open your mind by making an effort to entertain different perspectives and ideas, even if you disagree with them.
Listen to everything, and look at all sides of any given situation. Aim to be the most knowledgeable you can, and you will start to absorb more information