How to Develop A Growth Mindset

Recently I wrote a post about 3 awesome books that raise the entrepreneurial mindset, one of them was Carol Dweck’s Mindset in which she famously coined the term ‘fixed’ and ‘growth’ mindset. In this article I want to share steps that would help you shift from a fixed mindset into a resilient growth mindset. I want to bring in perspectives from Carol Dweck herself and her steps to develop a growth mindset but also from Brendon Buchard who I believe is a powerhouse contemporary of the self-awareness movement. Dweck focuses on the step by step approach to developing a growth mindset whereas Brendon looks at the bigger picture of what it takes to foster one the being level. Let’s start with the later.

Believe you can be better at anything. One of the determining factors of a growth mindset is a strong belief that any skill can be learned and improved. People that have a growth mindset do not feel intimidated with task that require new skills, they see challenges as an opportunity to learn instead of seeing them as mission impossible beyond their reach.

Question your assumptions about yourself and the meaning you create about who you are and what you are capable of. Where you are today is not a true determinant of where you will be tomorrow. If you believe that since you haven’t achieved anything or very little yet that is the where you will always stay. Remember the growth you have achieved so far, perhaps in the last few years, you have become a better friend, a father, a lover, a parent a person. The ability to question your state today and its irrelevance in where you will be tomorrow is a key attribute to the growth mindset. People overestimate what they can do in one year but they grossly underestimate what they can do in a decade.

Develop your own life curriculum around the vision you have for yoursel

f. If you have a desire to create the life you want, then it is in your hands to develop a roadmap to get there. Do not wait for others to draw it out for you or lead you onto the path that will take you there. Growth mindsets are always eager to create their own journey prioritizing learning as a corner stone of their life curriculum.

Next, let’s look at Carol Dweck’s 4 step approach to developing a growth

mindset. She is considered an expert on this subject so her recommendation are not to be taken lightly.

Step 1. Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.” We all have an internal voice that limits the way we see the world and more importantly ourselves. The voice will say things like, “I told you, you didn’t have it in you.” “Don’t take a step in that direction you know you will fail.” When you find yourself being criticized, the voice will say things like, “This is exactly how people see you, you must be a failure,” or “how can they speak me to like that I will

show them.” Almost always these voices go unnoticed, they become part of how we operate in this world how we show up in relationships and the defining factor on how we see ourselves. Step 1 is about being aware of the ‘voice’ not as you but as part of you that is separate. When we become aware of the voice, the power it holds on you diminishes, the voice is most powerful when it operates guised in the cloak of anonymity. Bring it forward, expose it and accept it is there, go a step forward listen to it with compassion and treat it as if it was a hurting child.

Step 2. Recognize that you have a choice in interpreting challenges. You can look at difficulties from the fixed mindset and see yourself very limited in your abilities to move forward or you can look at it from the growth mindset and see it as an opportunity to learn, grow and contribute.

An individual’s perspective is not a fixed trait rather it is a conscious choice. Everyday even every moment you can decide to shift your perspective so it is more aligned with the growth mindset, this recognition of choice is a powerful shift in developing a growth mindset.

Step 3. Talk back to the ‘voice’ with your growth mindset. Every time you hear the voice and are aware of it, talk back to it by giving it an alternative. For example, if the voice says, “you didn’t reach your goal, you really are a failure,” reply to it with the growth mindset answer, “you didn’t reach your goal, next time you improve your strategy an apply the lessons you learnt.” The more you do this the more natural it will become; over time the growth mindset voice will dominate opening up a world of possibilities rather than limitations.

Step 4. Take the growth mindset action. As your growth voice become stronger take action to move boldly in that direction. Information in your head without implementation remains just that: information. As your mindset shifts towards growth you must support it with action. At first take baby steps in moving forward and hopefully as you see the rewards of your actions you will move ever so boldly in that direction.

I think understanding the big picture of fostering a growth mindset with the step by step approach to create it is a powerful combination in changing the way you see yourself in this world. I have applied these teachings myself and have seen a radical shift from a deeply ingrained fixed mindset where failure and success was predicated on innate talent and abilities to where I see everything as an opportunity to grow. I truly believe that any achievement is possible for anyone if they are willing to accept that their ability to succeed is dependent not on their lack of talent but their lack of skills that undoubtedly can be developed with consistent action.