“No matter what, people grow. If you chose not to grow, you’re staying in a small box with a small mindset. People who win go outside of that box. It’s very simple when you look at it.” –  Kevin Hart

 

Mindset Is Everything.

You must have heard this a lot.

it’s become cliche to you.

Most recently if you read our blog post.

In this Post, You’d learn :

• What Your Mindset is?
• The two types of Mindset
• Which Category You fall into
• Can Mindset be Changed
• 7 ways You can Start Developing A Growth Mindset.

What Is Mindset?

Mindset is a collection of the various thoughts and beliefs that shapes our thought habits. 

These thought habits affect how we think, what we feel, and as a result, what we do. 

Your mind-set impacts how you make sense of the world around you. and how you make sense of you. 

Your mindset is a big deal. 

Your Mindset is a VERY big deal! – and here is why.

Types of Mindsets

According to Researcher and Author Carol Dweck, in her book: Mindset: The New Psychology of Success – which looks into the power of our beliefs, both conscious and unconscious, and how even the slightest change in mindset can have profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives.

Dweck Identifies two types of Mindsets –  A fixed Mindset and a Growth Mindset.

These mindsets determine how we view our Personality and interpret the world around us to suit that personality.

A “fixed mindset” assumes that our character, intelligence, and creative ability are static and cannot be changed.  Being successful in things you find comes easy is your proof and a way to validate your inherent intelligence. 

As a result a person with a fixed mindset feels there is no room for improvement and striving for success and avoiding failure at all costs becomes a way of maintaining the sense of being smart or skilled.

A “growth mindset,” assumes the opposite. 

A growth mindset thrives on challenges and sees failure not as evidence of being dumb and wrong but as an opportunity for development, a new opportunity for growth and for stretching one’s existing skills ad abilities.

These two mindsets according to Dweck’s research usually manifest at an early age and form a great deal of our behavior, how we interpret success and failure in both professional and personal life experiences, and Most importantly, our capacity for happiness.

Which of these categories do you fall into?

Here’s an example of someone with a fixed mindset? ( and see if you share similarities )

You have this core belief that intelligence is fixed. – Yours and Others. 

You manifest this belief by always having to be smart or right about things you thinks you know about. 

Once you learn to do something and feel comfortable, you never try new things for fear of feeling dumb or laughed at.

As a result of this “insecurities” you 

• Avoid new challenges because you don’t want to fail.
• When trying something new, you quit at the first sign of obstacle. “ you feel you are too dumb to get it”
• You see putting effort into developing yourself as fruitless and not worth it
• You are quick to ignore negative feedback or any form of criticisms on your work.
• You feel threatened by the successes and achievements of others

If you nodded your head to even 3 out these 5 traits or share similarities it means you have a deterministic view of the world.

This used to describe meo a T. at least the first four did for a while and I was not aware of it till sometime in December 2018.

So if this is you, chill I have good news, You can always CHANGE

On the flipside, A growth mindset means you believe Intelligence can be developed and as a result you are open to:

• Embracing new challenges as you see them as an avenue to learn
• Persist in the face of setback
• See effort and practice as the path to mastery 
• Receive criticism with an open mind and learn from it
• Find lessons and inspiration in the successes of others and this drives you to be better

This core belief is the reason why some reach higher levels of achievement and others do not. – Even if they have the same levels of talents.

If you fall in this category – You’re blessed!

Can Mindset Be Changed?

Yes…

According to Dweck, This belief system that intelligence is not just an ingrained trait but can be developed –  Plays a significant role in both Kids and Adults.

“For twenty years, my research has shown that the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value. How does this happen? How can a simple belief have the power to transform your psychology and, as a result, your life?

Believing that your qualities are carved in stone — the fixed mindset — creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character — well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics” – Carol Dweck.

If you view every situation as a win or lose – you’d be scared to go out of your comfort zone and learn new things. You are in a constant battle with yourself and your brain is stuck on “Will I succeed?” , “What will people say?” , “I don’t want to feel stupid or laughed at” – How do I know this? Because I have lived it.

On the Growth side of mindset however, Your core belief is shifted to see things and situations in a different light.

You know that “Your situation” is something that can be improved if you put in effort to develop and become your best self every single day. 

“ If You Are Born Poor It’s Not Your Mistake, But If You Die Poor Its Your Mistake “ – The Jury is still out on who said this

You know your circumstances at birth is something that can be changed over time – Your basic qualities, skills and intelligence can be improved upon. 

While everyone is differently Unique in many ways — in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments — everyone can change and grow through application, practice and experience.

Does this mean that people with this mindset can be anything? that with proper motivation or education, Anyone can become the next Wizkid, Cristiano or Bill gates?

No, but.. 

A growth Mindset believe that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable). 

You cannot tell what anyone can become or accomplish over time if they put in the required amount of practice, passion, and trainings over a significant period of time.

I.e if you have a basic skill as a musician, no one knows how successful you can become if you put in time to consistently practice and develop over a long years.

Growth mindset creates a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval.

People with a growth Mindset don’t see anything as a failure but rather as an avenue for learning – you see the slight shift in perspective?

“ I have not failed. I’ve just found 10,000 ways that won’t work.”   – Thomas A. Edison

If Thomas Edison had a Fixed mindset – We might never have Seen the invention of the lightbulb (all puns intended).

The Growth Mindset is the “Reason” behind quotes like 

“You can Do Anything”! – 

So do you?

Want to be everything you can possible be?

7 Ways To Start Developing a Growth Mindset Today.

I would keep this short and with relatable examples you can follow:

1. Acknowledge and Embrace Your weaknesses: 

There are certain things you are good at and there are certain things you are not good at. Knowing this is one mental key to developing a growth mindset.  – Develop the skills you are good at.    

No one is good at everything, 

Cristiano is a great footballer and while he might look like God’s perfect creation when he plays football – and probably the greatest of all time ( Messi fanboys don’t come for me), he probably sucks at other sports like golf.

Do you think he goes out everyday trying to be the best at golf? 

2. Learn To view challenges as opportunities :

Anytime you  are faced with a task or a new challenge – life is full of those.

The minute you see it as an opportunity to learn, it becomes a whole lot easier to tackle as you treat every “failure” as a way to learn. ( Thomas Edison remember?)

You get the experience to learn new things. And Enjoy Learning new things. 

3. Know Your learning style and use the right learning strategy : 

How best do you learn? – One thing i have seen is that we all learn differently. 

While you might learn better with videos and Audios, some others learn better when they read books – Find a learning style that suits you and learn new things that way. 

There are indeed many ways to skin a rat. 

This makes learning fun and enjoyable.

4. Remember the brain has the ability to change throughout life : 

The brain has the ability to change throughout life – Neuroplasticity

Neuroplasticity – is the change in neural pathways and synapses that occurs due to certain factors, like behavior, environment, or neural processes. During such changes, the brain engages in synaptic pruning, deleting the neural connections that are no longer necessary or useful, and strengthening the necessary ones.

In layman’s terms – when you try to be better by practicing more on something you are  good at – you get better and better and better – example : Cristiano Ronaldo.

Think back on things you are great at now and remember how terrible you were when you started? — Yes!

5. Prioritise learning over seeking approval : 

When I started learning writing online course – I wrote my first blog post ( which was okay at the time – 1 years ago ) and immediately sent it to a friend to read and give me feedback – he did not read it.-  I felt crushed.

I had prioritised seeking approval from him over learning – (ps: feedback is good, infact great if you are seeking it for the right reason and from the right people).

This held me back for a while but I found my “mojo” and kept on writing and I have developed my writing skills as a result.

When you are scared to try something new because of what people would say or do – you are lost in your head. 

You have this constant need to feed your ego into a feeling that you did something great even if this is the first time you did. 

Focus on learning and once you are good, the approvals would come.

6. Focus on the process instead of the end results: 

When you are focused on just getting better at a skill instead of all the money you can earn once you master that skill – you are most likely to do the work required of you.

On the other hand – if you are too focused on the reward you get – you are not likely to do the work as you want to be instantly perfect. 

This can lead to a need for you to procrastinate or Learn fast instead of learning well. 

It would take a lot of practice for you to get better at any tangible new skill – you cannot rush it. 

This would help define what “failure” is and isn’t” – once you see learning as a process you are more embraced with every challenge it throws at you.

7. Learn to Give and Receive constructive criticisms : 

Feedback is good – Feedback and criticisms are great as that is how you learn to really give something your all. 

If you are scared to take constructive criticisms you would never want to try something outside your comfort zone and you would never grow or learn.

If that is the life you want cool – but if you want to grow, your ability to give and receive constructive criticism has to be developed.

On the flip side you should know what constructive criticism is and who “a troll’ is – the only way to know what constructive criticism is is to start giving it to people – everyone appreciates honest feedback when you do it the right way – almost everyone.

One thing you should avoid is focusing on negative comments that attack you instead of your work – this has been the hardest to change for me as I put in all my emotions when i do something so when I have my work criticised I sometimes feel attacked. 

Nowadays with constant practice i am learning to do my best and expect criticism- i take criticism from those better or who I feel have a worthy contribution. I learn and grow from it – I have taken this a step farther and have paid to have my website and writings reviewed and critiqued – Great authors do this too.

No one knows it all so learn to stay unattached to your work and grow and learn from feedback.

You can always change from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset – it is your life you should get to decide what to believe  or not – but this isn’t all hogwash as it is backed scientifically.

So take that new course , start learning that new skill, find something that interests you and get better at it! – 

“You can Do it”