What is a Growth Mindset and what are the benefits?
What is a growth mindset?
A growth mindset refers to the belief that skills and qualities can be developed through hard work, learning, planning and external support. The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset, where you believe you are born with innate qualities and talents.
How you approach failure is a good way to asses which of the two mindsets you possess. If you approach with thoughts like “I guess I just don’t have the skills to do that”, “Its not fair, I don’t have xyz to do that successfully”, “I am not going to try again because what’s the point, nothing would be different” then you likely have a fixed mindset. If, however, you fail at something and you have thoughts like “What went wrong that I can do differently next time I try”, “What do I need to learn or practice so it works better next time”, “Who can help me be more successful next time” then you likely have a growth mindset.
What is the benefit of a growth mindset?
Hopefully just by reading the example above, your brain is starting to form some of the benefits of a growth mindset already! Because of the belief that they can overcome failure and adversity by applying themselves, people with a growth mindset tend to :
- Achieve more
- Be more resilient
- Be able to bounce back from disappointments faster
- Be more adaptable
- Understand their strengths and how to leverage them
How do you develop a growth mindset?
Luckily (although those with a fixed mindset may argue otherwise) you develop a growth mindset and help rewire the way you think and approach situations. You need to begin thinking more optimistically, begin identifying learning opportunities and look at failures as challenges (rather than just an dead end).
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