“Nothing can stop the man with the right mental attitude from achieving his goal; nothing on earth can help the man with the wrong mental attitude.” — Thomas Jefferson
When I think about developing a growth mindset, I think about Thomas Jefferson’s quote above.
If you have the right attitude to want to change your mindset, then you will.
But you have to do more than want to change.
Here are 5 steps you can take to encourage a growth mindset in yourself.
What is a growth mindset?
A growth mindset is a specific approach to life where you don’t see obstacles, but rather opportunities to learn and improve.
Having the right attitude to pursue this type of mindset is important.
It can make all the difference between choosing a growth mindset and staying stuck in a fixed mindset. An article on the Dartmouth College website also does a great job of explaining the growth mindset and how it differs from the fixed mindset seen in the image below.
Whether you have a growth mindset or not comes down to how you look at failure in your life.
If you have a growth mindset, the truth is you probably don’t use the word, failure. Instead, you view unsuccessful experiences in your life as opportunities. These may be moments with temporary setbacks, but they aren’t lost on you completely. They give you valuable life lessons, and you embrace what you learn and try again.
A growth mindset was so drilled into me as a manager, that even today it’s tough for me to think of anything as a failure. There’s always something to be learned from what isn’t working or falls flat.
The opposite is true with a fixed mindset.
It’s when you see something not working out as a stopping point on your journey. An obstacle perhaps you can’t overcome. You see failure as a reflection of your limited ability, instead of a motivator to learn and grow.
It’s true that you’ll most likely sway between a growth and fixed mindset throughout different seasons of your life.
But in order to embrace a growth mindset more often, your first step is to do an audit of the way you think today.
#1 — Conduct a mental audit
How do you view challenges in your life?
For example, I tend to sway on the side of a growth mindset. As a new entrepreneur, my cup is overflowing with opportunities to learn—lessons about growing my business effectively, focusing my time correctly, and establishing good habit-forming systems.
Just because I don’t yet have the growth I desire doesn’t mean I will never find the success I’m after.
Sure there are days when I get discouraged, but most of the time I try to embrace a growth mindset.
What about you?
Do you see challenges as opportunities for personal growth, or do you see them as red-flashing indicators to stop and push no further?
#2 — Celebrate past wins
What did you do in the past that was difficult, but you learned and did better the next time?
Don’t overlook examples in your life where you’ve already had a growth mindset and maybe didn’t realize it.
Take note of when those moments happened.
Remember the “why” behind the mindset you had. What was the level of effort you put into doing better? How much time did it take to learn from what didn’t work?
Reflecting on these transformational times provides you with the confidence to pursue that growth mindset once again.
#3 — Research and learn
Now that you have reflected on your view of challenges and past wins in your life, it’s time to research where you want to grow.
As I’ve said, I’m new to running my own business. It’s a different world working for yourself and building your clientele.
I spend a lot of my days looking into tips from other successful freelance writers and learning. A lot of my time is dedicated to reading and observing what has worked for other similar individuals on this same path.
Simply leaving my 9–5 and getting out of my comfort zone has pushed me to further embrace a growth mindset of learning and trying something new.
#4 — Experiment and review
Trial and error is a key part of the process of having a growth mindset.
Once you learn about an area where you want to grow, you need to take action and experiment to see a result.
In the last year, I’ve compiled a nice portfolio, but now it’s time to focus more on attracting clients and growing my business.
I’m required to stretch my cold-pitching skills and broaden my thinking on strategically where to spend most of my time.
I’m heavily in this phase of experimenting and reviewing what works and what doesn’t.
Part of developing a growth mindset is being able to rebound from what isn’t working with tweaks to apply to your future efforts.
#5 — Ask for constructive criticism
Developing a growth mindset doesn’t mean doing everything alone.
Asking for constructive criticism is a big component.
Even after researching and experimenting, you need someone else’s perspective on other ways you can learn and improve what you’re trying to achieve.
For example, after talking to two different writers in my community, I realized my strategy needed to be reworked.
It’s best sometimes to get out of your own head and allow someone else with knowledge about what you’re trying to do to give their perspective.
It can save you time and prevent you from remaining in a fixed mindset position.
Developing a growth mindset is possible.
First, it starts with harnessing the right attitude to see challenges more as opportunities to grow.
Then acknowledging your past when you did exhibit a growth mindset, can give you the confidence you need to do it again.
Never forget that learning and experimenting really are the “meat” of putting a growth mindset into action.
And lastly, asking for others’ constructive criticism of your efforts may be the perspective you need to prompt immediate action and pivot your strategy if required.
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