Growth Mindset may be a new term for you, but you’ve probably heard of Positive Mindset. Positive Mindset is the most common term related to mindset, but there are many types of mindsets and each individual has a mix of them. 

Although having a positive mindset is great, to really grow and move forward towards your goals understanding and learning how to cultivate a growth mindset is key. 

Mindset is a pretty popular word these days from the term Positive Mindset flooding the internet to Mindset Coaches flooding your DMs it gets thrown around a lot, but what does Mindset really mean? 

Before we jump into the “how to” part of anything, it’s important to understand the what and why first. 

_{What is a Mindset?} 

According to Google, Mindset is “the established set of attitudes (or beliefs) held by someone.” 

Now I don’t know about you, but my attitude can change depending on external and even internal factors.

My beliefs about things may be strong in some areas and not so much in others and I may come across or even seek out information that may change certain beliefs I have. 

If mindset is essentially my attitudes or beliefs then saying I only have one or that it’s even conceivable for me to only have one is unrealistic.

We have a mix of mindsets. 

If you’re the type of person that actively works to keep a positive attitude or mindset then you know that having a positive mindset all of the time can be difficult. 

Although you may try to stay positive, staying positive 100% of the time, unless your Buddha, is nearly impossible. This is because although you are trying to stay positive, your mindset will inevitably fluctuate. 

How can we develop certain mindsets and increase the frequency of their use over others? 

3 Common Mindsets: 

There are many types of mindsets. Most people will be a mix of three common mindset types, fixed, positive, and growth mindsets with a focus in one area more than others. 

Fixed Mindset:  

This mindset essentially holds the belief that we are born with our abilities and talents. It doesn’t deny that you are talented in some areas. However, it also doesn’t enable you to grow in areas that don’t come more naturally to you. 

Although this mindset encourages a belief in your natural abilities, it doesn’t lend well to learning new skills. 

Another problem area of a fixed mindset is the common belief that little effort is required for success. 

Positive Mindset: 

Positive mindset is a great one to consistently strive for. This mindset helps us to look on the bright side of things.

Compared to a fixed mindset a positive mindset may allow us to see other possibilities when a fixed mindset would likely stop at any barriers that arise.

Although a positive mindset isn’t one of growth necessarily it does help to find silver linings when obstacles stand in our way of having a positive view. 

Growth Mindset:  

Growth mindset takes positivity to the next level. This mindset enables us to not only be positive but to believe in ourselves and that we can learn and grow in areas that we put the work into.  

With a growth mindset we will take on challenges and learn from them, in turn increasing our abilities and achievements. 

Mindset Misconceptions.

A big misconception about mindsets, especially growth mindset, is the idea that just having the mindset is enough. With a growth mindset there is definitely the belief in the ability to grow, as well as an awareness that it won’t happen without effort.

It’s important to note, that although a growth mindset believes we can grow, it’s realistic. Acknowledging that not everyone can become a genius, however we can become smarter and more talented if we work at it.  

Our Mindset Greatly Affects How We Live Our Lives. 

Mindset shapes how we make sense of the world and ourselves. It influences how we think, feel, and behave. Different mindsets will kick in pretty naturally depending on our experiences and the situations we are facing. 

Being aware of different mindsets and how some can help us and others can hurt us is vital for growth.

Once we are knowledgeable in this area then we can learn how to actively work towards mindsets that will help us move forward towards our goals.

What is Your Mindset? 

Do you have an idea of what your predominant mindset or mindsets are? You can ask yourself a few questions to get a general sense of your common mindsets. 

Do you believe that people either have specific talents or they don’t and there isn’t much they can do to change that? 

Do you think that we are born with a certain amount of intelligence and there isn’t much we can do to change it? 

Or 

Do you believe that we can learn new things and improve your intelligence? 

That by working hard and putting in the effort we can learn new talents and abilities? 

Or perhaps, you lie somewhere in between depending on certain situations. 

We Can Change Our Mindset. 

If you’re in the gray area between these mindsets do you believe that you can change them and if so how and why?  

You may want to dig deep to figure out the why on your own for this article anyway, but I can help you with the how now. 

• Start to take on new challenges.
  • Even if you don’t believe you can grow in these areas just yet, the physical act of taking on new challenges will have your brain quickly following behind. The key here is to not give up when things get a little tough. Once you see you can do it, you’re start to believe and then there’s no stopping you. 
• Pay attention to what you think and say.
  • It’s easy to forget that your reality is just that, your reality. If you think you can’t you won’t even bother trying and if you think you can then you likely will work at it until you do it. 
  • Since our words are essentially our thoughts out loud, sometimes it’s easier to do this by listening to yourself and stop every once in a while and ask yourself if you really believe that. We can only start to change our thoughts and our mindset when we are aware of them. 
• Instead of focusing on the end goal start to focus on the journey.
  • People with a growth mindset strongly believe in learning from making mistakes, if you aren’t paying attention to the process you will miss the lessons and never give yourself the opportunity to learn. 
• Yet, is a great word!
  • This word encourages us to acknowledge that although we haven’t done something yet does not mean that we can’t or won’t. By adding this word to our internal and external vocabulary you will start to feel motivated to do all sorts of things that you haven’t done…YET! 

The Great News!

Let’s finish with the great news, research shows us that those with growth mindsets achieve higher success. So, if you start to actively work towards a growth mindset your chances of success just increased significantly! 

If you think we may be able to help you develop a Growth Mindset please always feel free to  CONTACT US. You can also reach out via phone or email to schedule your free 15 minute phone consult or just go ahead and schedule your session  HERE 

With Love and Appreciation, 

Victoria