Now that we understand the brain can build new pathways based on our behaviors, it is time to look at exciting things the mind can do. Mindset has proven to be the number one indicator of future success. Growth Mindset is the most critical concept in this series. Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D., discovered the idea of mindset in the 1970s. Since then, Dr.Dweck’s research has proven that those who aspire to become extraordinary must first look at their mindset.
What is mindset? It is a perception that affects one’s behavior. Dr. Dweck found two predominant mindsets: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. A fixed mindset is the belief that a person’s potential is set and does not change. The growth mindset is that a person’s potential is undetermined and changeable by hard work. This means that by merely shifting your perceptions from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, you open up a world of possibilities for yourself where the sky is the limit.
Dr. Carol S. Dweck’s TED talk on Growth Mindset
According to Dweck, we each have a combination of fixed and growth mindsets. The goal is to identify where you have a fixed mindset and what triggers it and try to replace it with a growth mindset. To learn more about mindset and its link to success, read Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
HOW TO ADOPT A GROWTH MINDSET
How do you adopt a growth mindset once you understand the concept and its importance?
- 1. Listen to your internal dialogue. Write down your fixed mindset messages for a week.
2. Determine when the fixed mindset creeps in.
3. Write down a growth mindset response to each fixed mindset response you recorded.
4. Determine where your fixed mindset is holding you back from your goals.
5. Concentrate on catching and replacing those fixed mindset responses to growth mindset responses. 6. It will feel awkward at first, but keep at it. The more you do, the easier it will become in the future.
Here is a personal example from my life. I am currently writing my first fiction novel. I have always thought of writing as my “talent.” However, feeling extremely protective of my work, I rarely shared it with anyone. It felt so personal. I did not want to discover that my writing was terrible and had no talent. I eventually signed up for a course in which an editor reviews the first ten pages of your manuscript, gives you feedback, gives you a chance to make changes, and then you submit it for a final review. If the editor liked your book enough, they could request more pages to read. I am petrified of criticism, so the entire process was honestly excruciating. To this point, very few people had read my work. It had been a labor of love for over a decade. However, I held on to the hope she would request more pages.
What I received was a lot of constructive criticism. Initially, I felt horrified. I blamed myself for picking the wrong editor. I had chosen a junior editor in my genre, and I should have picked an older, more experienced one. I blamed her for not understanding what I was trying to do. I blamed myself for submitting it. I had embarrassed myself. However, I stopped and took a deep breath. I threw myself into making the corrections. I eventually convinced myself that if she was unhappy with this, I could make the changes, and she would ask me for more. By the time I resubmitted the manuscript, I felt giddy. I had to get a request for more pages now!
It was not my moment. My final review did not arrive with a request for more pages. It came with something even better. It came with an ah-ha moment. The editor told me what my writing was missing. I could not put my finger on it for years. The book was off, and I knew it, but I did not know why. It was liberating in one sense but frustrating in another. I did not know how to fix the problem. I made some initial attempts, but I couldn’t seem to crack it. So I eventually put my book back on the shelf.
I realize it is time to take that book off the shelf and start working on it. I have nothing to lose and a lot to gain. I am not scared of hard work. My passion will get me through. I fear looking back and realizing I never took the chance.
