How to Activate your Growth Mindset
One simple shift changes everything
You’ve only just ventured past the title and photo, but I want you to stop reading — pause for a moment, and reflect on the thought patterns you’ve been carrying around today.
What do they look like? How do they feel? Are they serving you?
Growth mindset
Psychologist Dr Carol Dweck originated the concept of a fixed and growth mindset, revolutionizing our understanding of the brain’s malleability and the power of perception.
The fundamental difference between a fixed and growth mindset boils down to the substitution of one tiny word:
Fixed mindset: “Why is this happening to me?”
Growth mindset: “Why is this happening for me?”
It’s a powerful shift — transforming the narrative from obstacle to opportunity. So, when difficulties arise, we can see ourselves as an arrow being pulled back before it can be propelled forward.
Embodying our growth mindset, we prioritise learning goals over performance goals; we embrace challenge to expand our skillsets; and we treat failure as a growth opportunity.
Next time you’re ruminating on a setback, or telling yourself that failure means your ability has hit a ceiling, try out these growth mindset prompts:
- “What am I learning from this experience?”
- “How might this experience change my perspective for the better?”
- “Is there an opportunity to grow from this experience?”
Proof of the pudding
Another moment for reflection — think back to one of the most challenging times in your life. Did this experience serve to shape you in some way?
A 2018 study found that difficult life events, when coupled with social support, precipitated improved self-understanding, compassion, comfort with uncertainty, and acceptance of complexity.
The person you are today is your very own evidence that challenge begets growth. And by consciously stepping into our growth mindset, we’re able to see this in real time — not just retrospectively.
Habitual fixed mindset
A fixed mindset is not our default. Humankind couldn’t have evolved without a propensity for growth mindset — we’ve been snowballing our collective intelligence for millennia.
But the thing is, our technological evolution has outstripped our biological evolution. And so we can find ourselves caught in the riptide of an increasingly demanding world that we’re not innately equipped to navigate.
This creates diabolically perfect conditions for a habitual fixed mindset. Hence, it usually takes a conscious effort to let go of these unhelpful thought patterns and step back into our growth mindset.
Permission to forget
Don’t kid yourself — shaking the fixed mindset habit is not a one-and-done effort. Even as I write this, I know I’ve been wallowing in a fixed mindset recently. And after re-activating my growth mindset in this moment, I’m sure to forget all about it by tomorrow — or tonight, or 12 minutes from now.
Carol Dweck herself asserts there is no such thing as a “pure” growth mindset — we oscillate between fixed and growth mindsets every day. It’s all part of the growth game — so how can we help ourselves remember?
Create a habit of regularly checking in with your mindset by setting up triggers. Perhaps you could set up a daily reminder on your phone, or leave a sticky note on the back of your toilet door.
If you then catch yourself bemoaning the difficulties in your life — as we inevitably do — offer yourself a growth mindset prompt and see if anything changes.
Choosing growth
We can’t evade every hardship in life — we can only choose how we respond. Embracing your growth mindset can transform immobilizing obstacles into value-added experiences.
Now, one last moment to pause — this time cast your mind ahead to imagine the closing chapter of your life.
Are you looking back on your life as a series of unfortunate events? Or, do you feel deep in your bones that each challenge you faced has molded you into the person you’ve become?
The choice is yours to make, each and every day.
