What’s your mindset?
Is it fixed?
Is it growth?
Why your Mindset Matters
Everyone has a mindset. That’s a given. However, not everyone’s mindset helps them achieve, strive and accomplish all that they are capable of on a regular basis.
I recently finished Carol S. Dweck’s book “Mindset” – which coincidentally is on Bill Gate’s list of favorite books of 2015. In her book she covers a lot of ground related to success and failure in relation to sports, business and personal relationships.
Effectively there are two mindsets to be considered. In the Fixed Mindset people take on a “woe is me” and “blame everyone and everything else … except me” mentality. In the Growth Mindset people take on a more Zen mentality where everything happens for a reason and can be a learning lesson.
As you can guess the Growth Mindset is much more conducive to success and being able to push on even when it seems all forces are against you. By adopting and embracing a Growth Mindset you can stand out in your career.
Fixed Mindset Traits:
- Feeling labeled a failure
- Getting discouraged when something doesn’t play out the way you expected
- Passing on a chance to learn
Do you retreat when a challenge seems daunting?
If yes, you might have a Fixed Mindset.
Growth Mindset Traits:
- Takes on a challenge
- Learns from mistakes and failures
- Continues on … perseveres
Do you take failures as an opportunity learn?
If yes, you might have a Growth Mindset.
There are a few more aspects to each mindset, but these are some of the key traits. Obviously, the idea is to embrace a Growth Mindset in order to keep moving forward.
Is is always possible to have a growth mindset? I’m not 100% sure. Being human will have down days, but people with a growth mindset will seek to turn those down days into learning experiments.
I think there will always be optimists. Call them dreamers if you like. Optimists are those people that sometimes drive us crazy because they can’t realize that what they are proposing will NEVER work. Then they go off and do the impossible.
Which reminds me of what Eleanor Roosevelt said …
The future belongs to those who believe
in the beauty of their dreams. ~ Eleanor Roosevelt
Seek a Growth Mindset
When you can take on a growth mindset mode of thinking you will be able to see things in a new light and be able to approach problems from a new perspective.
A few things you can do today to begin developing your Growth Mindset:
- Look for the issues and dig into them
- Break them down
- Seek to understand what you can learn, take away and improve upon
This does not mean you will always be successful at every endeavor. This is not a case for advocating “participation ribbons” rather it is a chance to take control of your experiences. Take control of the way you react to conditions and actions that may have been thrust upon you.
You cannot control what happens to you, but you can control your attitude toward what happens to you, and in that, you will be mastering change rather than allowing it to master you.
~ Brian Tracy
Failure is an Action
When you can fully accept that Failure is an Action … NOT an Identity you will be at least one step ahead of the game.
The point of this statement is that Failures Happen.
They do not define you. They are not your identity.
An Action Does Not Equal Your Identity
A few things you can do today to begin breaking away from a Fixed Mindset:
- Instead of seeking to blame someone or something … look for the underlying issues
- Before giving up take a step back and try to look at the bigger picture.
- Work Harder. Yes, this might seem counter-intuitive and may fly in your face as an insult. It’s not. That’s your Fixed Mindset thinking.
I’ve missed more than 9000 shots in my career. I’ve lost almost 300 games. 26 times … And that is why I succeed.
~ Michael Jordan
Fixed or Growth?
There sort of is a wrong answer here. A fixed mindset will only serve to drag you down and to reconfirm your fixed mindset convictions that you aren’t good enough, fast enough, smart enough. Don’t let that mindset control you.
Take control of your situation. Take control of the way you react &respond to the things that impact your life and I can assure you that your results will continue to improve.
Will it happen overnight? Not likely. However, in a step by step fashion you will start to see changes in the way you perceive and react to situations. As you being to do this and find initial successes your peers will also likely begin to take notice. As this happens more and more you will Stand Out in Your Career.
Remember …
”Everything is theoretically impossible, until it is done.”
~ Robert A. Heinlein
