In this blog post you’ll learn how to harness your growth mindset to keep growing and glowing. Follow these steps to banish your fixed mindset and face challenges with confidence.
How to Harness Your Growth Mindset
When you are working on your manifestation when you’re working on visioning, when you’re working in your business, all of these things you would find sometimes that it’s actually not easy to constantly have a growth mindset.
Growth mindset. I always frame growth mindset for myself as related to the intellectual and occupational wellbeing that I strive for. Personal development falls into intellectual and occupational wellness because that’s really where you are challenging yourself to learn new things.
Growth mindset looks different for each of us, just like your wellbeing looks different for each of us. When we are having difficulty sticking in a growth mindset, it might be a barrier or challenge that is holding us hostage.
Sometimes the reasons you are stuck in a fixed mindset and not actually be engaging in a growth mindset are things that you’ve been carrying with you for a long time.
On the other hand, some people are naturally set in a fixed mindset and they don’t feel the calling to continue growing. And that’s ok! It’s important that we know where we are in our journey so we can decide where we want to head next.
As a person, you don’t need to stick in a growth mindset all the time. Sometimes there are limitations placed around you that do not allow you to grow. There might be situations that pop up or obstacles that you start focusing on as opposed to what’s really helping you grow.
What is Growth Mindset?
A researcher, Carol Dweck, is known for identifying two types of mindset: fixed and growth mindset. In a fixed mindset your intelligence is described as static and with the growth mindset your intelligence is described as something that can be developed.
“The passion for stretching yourself and sticking to it, even (or especially) when it’s not going well, is the hallmark of the growth mindset. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives.” -Carol Dweck
Digging into Growth Mindset
I recently read this article about Growth Mindset where the author describes several key components of a growth mindset. We used this article as the basis for our discussion in the Social Impact Level Up Club on Clubhouse. You can listen to the conversation in the accompanying podcast.
Several themes came out of our discussion that are important to understand how having a growth mindset really works on the street. When you dig into growth mindset, there are about 4 core characteristics I wanted to call attention to in this blog post.
The difference between people with a fixed mindset and those with a growth mindset provides some interesting insights for those of us who just want to know how to stay in a growth mindset as much as possible.
How You Face Challenges Matters
With a fixed mindset, when you approach challenges, you avoid them. If there are obstacles, you can give up easily. Or if you receive criticism you ignore it and don’t learn from it.
When you have a growth mindset, you face challenges as a learning process. You’ll experience success by adapting as challenges arise. You can see the success of others and celebrate it rather than be threatened by it.
How you face challenges is an important differentiator between fixed and growth mindset. People with a growth mindset have the benefit of learning from their experiences rather than seeing challenges as a threat.
Don’t Give Up, Instead Go Forward
People with a fixed mindset are more likely to give up rather than go forward when they face adversity. Instead of moving past failure and continuing on the journey, they let criticism or failure stop them from proceeding.
Whereas people with a growth mindset see failure as an opportunity to learn and grow. In fact, failure is seen as a key to success.
When you are able to keep moving forward you can focus on meeting the goal and having a mentality that helps you continuously improve. Continuing to move forward and not stop is the road to success because quitting will surely lead to failure.
Intelligence Can Be Developed
When you have a fixed mindset, the assumption is that intelligence is stagnant and cannot be acquired or grown. That means your intelligence, IQ, or ability to learn won’t continue to grow over time or with new experiences.
With a growth mindset, intelligence can be acquired as you have new experiences or face new challenges. Creativity can thrive in a growth mindset and challenges can become opportunities to pivot and learn new skills or forge a new path.
Believe That It Just Hasn’t Happened… YET
When you have a growth mindset you recognize that even if something hasn’t happened, that doesn’t mean it won’t. The ability to keep growing and moving forward allows you to acquire the skills or experiences to make something happen that hasn’t come to fruition yet.
By living in a fixed mindset, you are limited by the current status. Believing in your ability to do something that hasn’t happened before or currently doesn’t exist is challenging.
Having a growth mindset helps you move on from mistakes by reflecting on them and learning what can be done better in the future to reach your goal.
Keeping Your Growth Mindset
Beyond the characteristics that are discussed in the article and in Carol Dweck’s work, the Social Impact Entrepreneur Collective came up with some additional ways to keep your growth mindset.
If you’re already in a growth mindset, staying there is important. These next X tips are ways you can maintain your high vibe mindset.
How You Deal With Feedback is Critical
Maintaining a growth mindset can be tricky when it comes to feedback. It is often an uncomfortable experience to receive feedback. We might even find ourselves assessing if feedback is “helpful” to us or not before we commit to receiving it.
Continuing to grow is dependent not only on keeping the course and believing that something will happen. It also involves being honest with yourself about where are you are currently and where you want to be.
When you have someone who can give you honest feedback, you will be challenged to continue growing into uncomfortable spaces and places. Working with a coach can help you practice receiving and implementing feedback so you can accelerate your journey.
Fear of feedback can keep you from maintaining a growth mindset because you either don’t take the feedback seriously, or ignore it.
Fear of negative feedback or criticism is a huge barrier to continuing to learn from your experiences. Getting over your fear of negative feedback is a huge mindset shift that will help you continue progressing.
Once you get over your fear of negative feedback, you can start actively inviting feedback. Knowing when you can grow and be open to feedback is a skill many of us need to acquire.
Practice Your Receiving Skills
Once you master receiving feedback, working on your ability to receive compliments can be equally hard. Genuinely accepting compliments and praise can be uncomfortable if you aren’t used to hearing it or are too busy being worried about what you did wrong.
When you are open to praise, you can start to celebrate your accomplishments and use it as a vehicle to stay motivated. Even good feedback is a learning opportunity. You can hear what people think you did well so you can replicate and build on that success in the future.
Working to become the best versions of ourselves requires the skill to accept both negative and positive feedback.
Get The Right Support System
The people that you select to be around you are critical to your success and continual growth.
It’s more helpful to have people with diverse perspectives and who can push you forward as opposed to surrounding yourself with a tribe that won’t lift you up, won’t hold you accountable, or will say yes to anything you say or do.
Having the right people and the right environment to thrive ensures that you can safely keep growing towards your goals. Being resilient in the face of adversity is easier if you have some backup.
Be Resourceful & Have a Plan
You may not have all the answers, but having a growth mindset includes figuring it out. Whatever that is.
When you aren’t afraid to dig into the research rabbit hole, you’d be surprised what kind of growth comes from figuring shit out. Taking the time to do the research and come up with a plan ensures you will be on the best path to success.
You won’t be flying blind or guessing at what actions to take. Creating answers and solutions that weren’t there before is critical to maintaining your growth mindset.
Mind-Body Alignment
You can’t continue to grow if your body or mind doesn’t want to. You have to be all-in.
When you’re learning a new skill or habit, that is growth. In order to do that you have to be both in the right mindset and the energy to make things happen.
Reaching success is more than the drive, mission, and vision. Being so driven by your “why” that your mind and body are in alignment to make it happen is the key to success. It’s more fulfilling to live a life where you have the mind, body, and energy to achieve your goals every day than to stay stagnant.
Take Consistent Inspired Action
Reaching your goal and making your vision happen requires action. That’s the only way it will actually become reality.
When you have a fixed mindset, it might be difficult to navigate this because you might only see a limited amount of opportunities and possible actions.
Maintaining a growth mindset also includes being open to all possibilities. That includes taking actions that might seem risky, unknown, or challenging.
Taking inspired action vs. just taking action insurers that your vision and your actions are in alignment and support each other. When your actions support your growth, you’re more likely to keep growing and to keep taking action.
Just Be You Boo
Finally, in order to really be your best self, you have to grow you really can’t be static. Your true potential isn’t who you are today.
You have to be willing to face challenges, move forward, use other people’s success as a motivator, and most importantly just do it your way. Be you. Do your thing.
I think having a growth mindset is the way to keep figuring out who you are and how you want to show up. Also, how you want to serve.
As a social business owner or non-profit leader, being you is what inspires others to follow you. How you lead people to create the change you want to see in the world.
You don’t need to compare yourself to others, you’re exactly who you need to be and where you need to be. Keep moving forward on your path, pivot when necessary, and continue to grow into the best you.
Stay in your lane, control the things within your locus of control, and learn from the experiences you can’t control. You only need to worry about you, and no one else. Comparing your progress or growth to others isn’t necessary. It can actually be harmful.
Continue growing, glowing, and chasing your dreams.
Social Impact Level Up Club
Every week social impact entrepreneurs come together on the Clubhouse app to talk about manifestation and money mindset. This post is made from the notes of the Clubhouse room participants and members of the Social Impact Level Up Club.
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