How to Develop a Growth Mindset - Everything You Need to Know
Anybody who’s spent any time in the self-improvement space will have heard of the concept of a growth mindset.
But for those who haven’t, here’s a quick and easy definition straight from Carol Dweck (Stanford professor of psychology – originator of the growth mindset concept):
“In a growth mindset, people believe that their most basic abilities can be developed through dedication and hard work – brains and talent are just the starting point.”
For contrast, here’s Dweck’s take on the other end of the spectrum, a fixed mindset:
“In a fixed mindset, people believe their basic qualities, like their intelligence or talent, are simply fixed traits. They spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them.”
They’re polar opposites, both in definition and effect. A growth mindset puts a person on an upward trajectory and a fixed mindset locks them in place.
That’s the obvious takeaway for why you should develop a growth mindset, but let’s look at the benefits in more detail.
The Benefits of Having a Growth Mindset
Here are just a few of the key benefits to having a growth mindset:
Detachment from Results
One of the most poisonous parts of having a fixed mindset is the amount of importance it places on results. After all, if our level of talent and intelligence is locked in, then the results we achieve are also locked in. If we perform poorly, a fixed mindset will tell us that that’s as good as we’ll ever be, which is a bitter pill to swallow.
This is why kids who are labelled as smart in school often grow up into adults that are afraid of trying new things or leaving their comfort zone. They’ve grown attached to their label of intelligence and are terrified of doing anything that would rip that label away – fixed mindset in a nutshell. If talent is locked in, then our results determine who we are… forever.
Having a growth mindset, on the other hand, allows you to detach from the results, at least a little.
After all, if you’re capable of learning and improving, failure and poor performance aren’t as big of a deal. Your results stop being a commentary on your value as a human being, and instead become a commentary on where you’re at right now in this moment.
And once you’re able to detach from your results, it reduces the pressure and anxiety, which in turn often leads to better results anyway. It’s a win-win.
Freedom to focus on improvement
Just as detachment from results reduces pressure, it also frees you up to focus on the things that matter – like learning and improving.
Once you’re able to fail at something without it threatening your entire identity, the failure begins to take on a new light. Now, it’s an opportunity to examine what went wrong and learn something new. And this ‘black box’ mentality can radically improve the speed at which you learn.
Just imagine if you got a little better every single time something goes wrong in your life. How much better could you be in a few months or even a few years?
Peace of mind and hope for the future
Finally, as has been alluded to throughout the points above, a growth mindset provides a whole lot of peace of mind.
When your failures and weaknesses stop being an indictment on your value as a human and start being things to improve upon, it creates space for hope.
And hope for a better future leads to peace of mind. Things don’t feel quite as serious, which enables you to be more realistic, productive, and authentic.
How to Develop a Growth Mindset – The Key Principles
So, you know why it’s important, but now it’s time for the meat and potatoes. Let’s get into how to develop a growth mindset.
The important first step is recognising that you actually can change.
After all, people who’re stuck in a fixed mindset will know just how limiting it is. Possibilities can feel closed off. From that stance, it’s inherently difficult to believe that change is possible.
With that in mind, the first principle is focused on breaking free from that disempowering mindset.
Look at the Evidence
You might believe that your skills and intellect are locked in, but is that actually true?
As humans with a bias towards survival and reproduction, our beliefs don’t always come from a place of logic and rationality. Often, they come from brief, traumatic experiences that we had 15 years ago, when we were a totally different person.
It’s with this in mind, that you need to take a cold, hard look at the evidence in front of you. Look at the areas of your life in which you believe you’re fixed, locked in place, or unable to improve.
Is there actually any evidence supporting that hypothesis? Conversely, is there any evidence that you can or have improved?
Often, looking at things from this angle will reveal your fixed belief for what it really is – a falsehood.
Even if we’ve been stuck in a fixed mindset, all of us can look back at our lives and see ways in which we’ve changed or improved. Focusing on these is all the evidence you need that you have far fewer limitations than you thought and that growth is indeed possible.
Effort > Results
We covered earlier how part of a healthy growth mindset involves detaching from results. This simple principle is all about reinforcing that idea. All you need to do is start rewarding yourself for effort rather than outcome.
Rather than worrying about whether you won a match or got rejected by that pretty girl in the bar, focus on the effort.
Get in the habit of rewarding yourself for:
Spending extra time practicing
Taking the risk even when you were afraid
Doing a few more reps even after you want to quit
And so on
It’ll be next to impossible to convince yourself that the results don’t matter at all. We all know they do on some level. But placing mental emphasis on the things within your control will help you reach a much healthier place, and make growth significantly easier.
Process & the Long-Term Perspective
Just as you should be focusing on effort rather than results, it can also be helpful to shift how you’re thinking about the timeline.
Rather than worrying about the outcome of today, think about today as just a part of the process on a long timeline.
It’s just another practice session or event that will get you to where you want to be in months or even years down the road. Take the pressure off today and follow the process.
Appreciate Frustration
We all know the frustration of failing at something that feels within reach. That move or piece of knowledge that you’ve been trying so hard to learn and remember, only for it to slip away when you actually need it.
Often, these moments of frustration are exactly what leads someone to arrive at the idea that they just aren’t cut out for whatever they’re trying to learn, and then quit.
But this is backwards.
Although the frustration might feel uncomfortable in the moment, it’s actually a useful sign that learning is imminent. Spending time in the frustration is a signal to your brain that it needs to rewire and improve.
Rather than it being an indication that you’re failing, you should take frustration as an indication that you’re learning and tomorrow will be better.
The ability to reframe frustration might just be one of the most important skills to build when learning how to develop a growth mindset.
Change Takes Time
Lastly and importantly, always remember that change and improvement take time.
You won’t be able to flip the script or dramatically improve overnight. You’ll need to keep reinforcing new ways of thinking and new habits.
This might seem unfair but it isn’t. After all, your current fixed mindset wasn’t built overnight either. You’ve been reinforcing it for years.
It’ll take some work to undo that, but that’s okay. As long as you’re proactively and consciously working towards healthier ways of thinking, things will get easier.
So, what are you waiting for? You’ve just learned how to develop a growth mindset. Get to work.
If you’re aspiring towards badassery, there’s going to be a lot of learning and failure in your future. It’s part of the process, for better or worse.
Fortunately, the principles above will make this a much easier pill to swallow. You’ll be better equipped to bounce back from failures, improve faster, and have a lot more fun along the way.
Food for thought.