Do you know the feeling of pleasure when you watch one of your ideas turn into reality? And the motivation to do more, to get even more productive and feel even more inspired? I would dare to say all of us have experienced this in one way or the other.
If you are like me, then you believe that there is always room to grow, personally and in business. A while ago, I came across a thing called “growth mindset” and it really resonated with me as I’ve always been convinced that if you put in the effort and have the right mindset, you can move mountains.
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What is a Growth Mindset?
According to psychologist Carol Dweck, there are two types of mindset: growth and fixed mindset. Her research has shown that individuals who embrace challenges and believe their talents can be built through hard work, good strategies and inputs from others have a growth mindset. Those people tend to achieve more than the ones with a so-called fixed mindset – believing that intelligence is static and success is accomplished based on talent and little effort.
Adopting a growth mindset can boost your wellbeing and personal as well as professional growth. That’s why today I would like to dive a bit deeper into that and talk about 11 strategies to build a growth mindset.
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11 Ways to Build a Growth Mindset
1. View challenges as opportunities
Part of building a growth mindset is to take on challenges. Rather than focusing on the negative perception of a challenge, think about the opportunity to learn new things.
2. Don’t focus on your failures
One thing I started doing is to replace the word “failing” with the word “learning”. We tend to focus so much on things we failed at, that we almost don’t see beyond that. Don’t get me wrong: It’s totally fine to claim your failures – but don’t let them be the only thing you see. As the good old saying goes “Learn from your failures” and focus on learning from mistakes.
3. Appreciate the journey
I’ve found that this one can be a challenge for some (but as we just said, challenges are opportunities!): Appreciate your journey. And what this means is that you shouldn’t only focus on the outcome, but value the process over the end result.
Again, this can be one of the more difficult strategies to implement, but it comes down to being patient… Which brings me to the next part!
4. Be patient
Accept that good things take time. They don’t necessarily have to, but it doesn’t hurt to think realistically about time and effort. Think of cooking a homemade tomato sauce – The longer you cook it, the tastier it gets (unless you let it burn, but you get the point!). When it comes to building a growth mindset, keep in mind that growth is more important than speed.
5. Practice mindfulness
I personally am fascinated by the fact that even a 1 minute mindfulness exercise can bring me clarity whenever my mind feels cloudy. You can practice mindfulness by focusing on your breathing, meditating, going for a walk or even stretching – there’s so many ways, you just have to find out what works best for you.
6. Find your purpose
Finding and understanding your purpose is closely tied to being self-aware. If you know your purpose, you’ll find that there are different ways to achieve your goals.
7. Give yourself time to reflect
Manifesting what you want for yourself is important. But don’t forget to give yourself the opportunity to reflect and be grateful for what you already have. Gratitude is a core element when it comes to building a growth mindset.
And it doesn’t hurt to be grateful for what you DON’T have. I know that might seem weird when you first hear it, but I recommend you give this a thought. Or two. And you’ll see that there is truth in it.
8. Be aware of your attitude
When I realised the powerful impact positive thinking can have on my everyday life, I started shifting my awareness and focusing much more on the good than the bad. And the best thing about this is: It’s really up to you – you have the power to choose to focus on optimistic thoughts. And once you do, it not only inspires you, but others too.
9. Ask for feedback
I love getting feedback from peers and friends as it creates a great opportunity for me to learn and grow. I encourage you to actively ask for it and look out for chances to learn lessons that you will be grateful for in the long run!
10. Incorporate “yet” into your vocabulary
Rather than saying “I haven’t achieved this”, you can say “I haven’t achieved this yet”. Don’t you think that adding this tiny word gives the sentence a much more positive touch?
According to Carol Dweck, by integrating the word “yet” into your vocabulary, you show yourself that you can overcome struggles, it’s just a matter of time and effort.
11. One goal after the other
Like I said in the beginning: Achieving goals is an amazing feeling. But building a growth mindset means that you know once one goal is down, there are others lined up to pursue. With that being said, I feel like it’s important to say that this is not about hurrying from one goal to the other and not celebrating your wins. It much more comes down to the approach of “You’re never done learning” and you want to grow, at your own pace.
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Keep Growing and Striving for More
Here we are, 11 ways to build a growth mindset later. I started to make use of all of them and have seen the impact they have had on other’s well being and growth as well.
I hope some of those approaches resonated with you and will help you to grow and achieve your goals!
Jade *