How to develop a growth mindset -7 Strategies for achieving your goals

BySOWMIYA S

All through our lives we have different types of goals that we all strive to achieve.Our way of approach towards the goals highly influences how soon we achieve them. 

Having a growth mindset can highly help us in achieving our goals easier and faster when compared to having a fixed mindset. 

Growth mindset is essentially when we know we can master any skill or achieve any goal when we are willing to put in the effort.A fixed mindset is where someone believes that only the people who are born with natural talent can succeed.

How to develop a growth mindset -7 Strategies for achieving your goals

“A growth mindset is about believing people can develop their abilities. It’s that simple.”

Dr. Carol S. Dweck,

Not everyone is born as a talent,we all become one by adopting a growth mindset.Life has its natural ebbs and flows.We have to learn to navigate along with our success and failures and learn to make the best out of it,using the growth mindset.

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Understanding Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset 

The concept of growth mindset was first introduced by Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.  In her book growth mindset is described that success can be achieved through a consistent pattern of hardwork, determination, persistence and learning along the way.

Whereas a fixed mindset can look like not putting in any effort to achieve a goal and complaining that i’m not talented enough. 

A growth mindset person can easily take on challenges in life, knowing that if they put in the effort to learn and work hard along the way they can easily achieve the target.They also know that even if they fail, they have gained valuable lessons from their experience.

Though in the same situation a fixed mindset person might not even take up the challenge thinking that they might fail by default. 

People with a growth mindset shall also work harder to achieve their goals.They know that hardwork and consistency can help to achieve their goals.

But a fixed mindset person might feel that minimum work and talent should help them achieve their goals.If they cannot achieve it in the first go,they might give up trying at all. 

Adopting a growth mindset can help us to take on challenges and work harder towards our goals instead of being fixed by the notion that talent can only lead us to success. 

“Hardwork beats talent when talent isn’t working hard”

Ways to adopt a growth mindset

Shift to positive self talk 

The way we speak to ourselves is the most important part of adopting a growth mindset.The words we use can either motivate us to demotivate us into becoming who we are.

When we are learning something as a beginner or when we face a new challenge we sometimes might immediately resort to saying that 

“I cannot do this or im not good at this” — Fixed Mindset

.Instead of speaking like this,we can shift our self talk into 

“I’m not good at this yet.When I consistently learn with hardwork, I can become a natural at this —Growth Mindset

By this simple shift we are establishing that we can learn anything if we put in the hard work.This makes us not go give up new challenges in the beginning 

Embrace Challenges

Life is filled with challenges,when we want to level up in our life we have to take on new challenges.Embrace challenges as just a part of growing up.

View challenges as opportunities to grow.When faced with a challenge and you find yourself in a difficult situation, instead of thinking that 

“I should not have taken this up or things always end up worse for me”— Fixed Mindset

“I’m facing a new challenge,this is an opportunity for me to learn and grow”—Growth Mindset

Haley Harmon

By this simple shift we can take on challenges and learn new things along the way.

We watch a scary movie even though we are terrified right.The same way take on challenges even when you are scared. 

“The moment you’re scared is the moment you should jump. Otherwise, you stay in the same place for the rest of your life.”

Take feedbacks constructively 

Receiving feedback might be a normal part of work life.Sometimes we might feel they tend to come out harsh.But if we know it is coming from a good place,we can learn to take feedback constructively. 

We can also learn to ask for feedback on our work,so that we can learn where we need to improve and work on this. This is the main important part of the growth mindset to take feedback as just ways to help us be better at whatever we do. 

When we receive feedback of our project from our senior instead of shrugging it out by saying that

“My senior is rude,he always picks up mistakes from me”— Fixed Mindset

“My senior has given me comments on the project.I’m going to work on them”—Growth Mindset

This is the difference between the growth and the fixed mindset.

Developing Resilience

For developing a growth mindset, resilience is important.We have to learn to fail forward.When we take on new challenges in life, there is a chance we might fail at it.

So when failure hits us we have to develop the resilience to overcome it.Failure is inevitable, we cannot play safely in this game of life by not failing at all.

Lily

Instead of viewing failures as an end road,just view them like little detours from our goals.Using the growth mindset, we learn and reflect from failures helping us to do better next time.

Enjoy the journey over the end result. 

This was one of my favourite mantras during my final year thesis.I didn’t want to simply work on my thesis until the end result was complete and throw it off.

I wanted to fully understand and enjoy the process and each milestone towards the journey.

When we start to enjoy the process this immediately puts us in the process of learning.We are not stuck with the outcome.

We are open to learn new things and make our work enjoyable every single day.Always learn to celebrate even the smallest of your accomplishments,this keeps you consistent in having the growth mindset.

Embrace imperfections 

Not everyone is born perfect.Imperfections make us authentic.

Never try to shy away from your imperfections.Only accepting our imperfections will help us to develop a mindset where we will allow ourselves to be a beginner.

When we are trying out new things we will be imperfect in the beginning.Allowing ourselves to be imperfect shall help us to be consistent in the practice and become a pro one day.

Surround yourself with growth mindset people 

Having people around you who are also working towards having a growth mindset can easily influence you to pick on the same.

When others take different challenges you shall also be encouraged and motivated to do the same.There will also be a positive thought process that they can help you to adopt.

Lets say your are talking about something with a fixed mindset saying that “I cannot do this” , these people can help you to immediately reframe your thoughts.

When someone from your circle is following their goals,it shall influence you to do the same.

Conclusion 

Adopting a growth mindset is a process.It requires consistent effort and reflection on your process.While developing your growth mindset you can also influence others and help them in this journey as well.

Working towards each step to adopting a growth mindset puts you further in your journey of self development and success. 

Let me know in the comments below which is the one strategy that you are going to adopt this week to embrace a growth mindset.

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