Our mindset is the most powerful tool that plays a crucial role in how we cope with our challenges in life. It is defined as the collation of our beliefs and disposition from which our mental attitude, inclination towards a goal, and principles in life are founded upon. It determines how we view the world and form our decisions.

Carol Dweck, an American Psychologist and a pioneer researcher in the field of motivation, described the two different mindsets that can affect how we navigate our lives: The fixed and growth mindset. In this post, we will explore the difference between the two and why our growth mindset is important for our success.

 

 

FIXED VS GROWTH MINDSET

Our personality comes from our mindset and whether it be conscious or unconscious, it either drives or prevents us from reaching our full potential.

The main difference between a fixed and growth mindset is on the belief that intelligence and abilities are permanent or temporary. One considers it as permanent with no room for change or improvement, while the other views it as changeable, with opportunities for growth, advancement, and improvement.

A growth mindset is where one views intelligence and abilities as things that can be developed or harnessed. Here, we believe that we can be better, wiser, and cultivate more skills and abilities by investing our time and effort into it.

A fixed mindset, on the other hand, assumes that our abilities and intelligence are relatively fixed and permanent. Here, we do not believe that our skills and capabilities can be enhanced. We are governed by the idea that we either have it or we don’t when it comes to our talents and abilities.

The difference in our mindsets lead to contrast in behavior and perception of things. Believing that intelligence and abilities are perpetual and inflexible would lead to limiting our effort to improve, while believing that our abilities can be improved would lead us to putting more effort and time into achieving our goals.

 

A CLOSER LOOK ON GROWTH MINDSET

Having a growth mindset allows us to see challenges as part of the learning process and motivates us to work harder and smarter. This leads us to achieving more compared to people with fixed mindset.

Although possessing a growth mindset is considered an affirmative stride that can lead to positive outcomes, success is not guaranteed by this alone; mindset needs to be supported by efforts and actions, consistency and perseverance.

Fostering a growth mindset includes personal efforts that allow us to improve and enhance our capabilities. Having a growth mindset allows the following to be possible:

 

1. It strengthens our  self-esteem

Self esteem is defined as having confidence in our abilities and worth as a person. It is our total sense of self-worth or personal appreciation. It greatly influences our choices and decisions in life for it serves as our motivation in exploring our full potential.

Growth mindset is considered as the secret to positive self-esteem. Using this healthier approach, we view perseverance and effort as our key to success. We regard experiencing failures and trials as an opportunity for learning and improvement. Our growth mindset leads to positive self-esteem, motivation, and resilience which are valuable for success.

 

2. It builds our abilities and values

Our abilities are the skills, talents, and competence that we have in a particular area. These include our natural capabilities as well as the knowledge and skills we’ve acquired through our daily experiences.

Values are the fundamental belief that guide and motivate our actions. They provide the general guidelines for our common conduct and specifies the relationship between our and their goals. Value specifies a relationship between us and our goals.

Both our abilities and values are affected by our way of thinking. Having a growth mindset makes us see the possibility of acquiring new skills and enhancing the ones we already have. It also enables us to see ourselves as works in progress and be motivated to improve and aspire.

 

3. It allows us to understand our strengths and capitalize on them

Knowing our strengths and weaknesses gives us a clear understanding of our progress and how we function. Understanding them allows us to know what’s holding us back, we can then work around and find ways to not let our weaknesses pull us behind. By capitalizing on our strengths, we’ll be ahead in a lot of things. It also helps us achieve more. Knowing what we can excel at or are capable at a particular area enables us to aim higher and reach our goals.

Our strengths grow from our skills, talents, patterns of thought, and behavior. Cultivating or enhancing our strengths requires perseverance and motivation, but without a growth mindset we won’t be able to acknowledge and enhance our strength and capitalize on them on our way to success.

 

4. It can improve our communication skills

Our communication skills are defined as the abilities we utilize in presenting and receiving information. Communication skills include listening, speaking, observing, and taking in feedback.

Our ability to effectively convey our thoughts effectively can be supported or hindered by our mindset. By being open to the idea of improvement, we’ll be able to enhance our communication skills.

Having feedback as one of the main tools in developing communication skills, we can see that it is only with a growth mindset that we can improve our communication skills. Because with a growth mindset, we’ll be more open to criticisms, we can embrace challenges more openly, and we can welcome feedback as an opportunity to improve and learn.

If we want to have better communication skills, we have to operate with a growth mindset and realize that the best speakers and communicators are not born, they are made.

 

5. It can help in creating a compelling and inspiring vision

Visions are described as mental images of a potential and desirable future. They indicate our aspirations and desired destination in the future. They are equated to our dreams and provide direction in our life. Once they are defined, they become our internal compass that guide our life decisions. It allows us to bring the future into our present in order for us to do something about it at the moment.

With a growth mindset applied to our goals, we are not just simply following the flow of life, rather, we are walking with a clear purpose. We do not accept the idea that we are victims of our destiny and we stand by the hopes of improvement and growth.

 

6. It allows us to set healthy work and client boundaries

Boundaries allow us to communicate how we want and expect to be treated. They are our way of setting our limits. Setting our limits is essential in fostering healthy working relationships. It is considered as a skill and like any other skill, only by tapping into our growth mindset can we foster healthy and logical limits.

In our strive for wellness, setting boundaries in the different aspects of our lives, both personal and professional,  becomes an essential goal. Growth mindset supports our mission by allowing us to patiently set these limitations to secure our overall health. Our ability to build boundaries come from our healthy self-worth, and how we value ourselves depends on our mindset.

 

TAKEAWAY

Our mindset becomes the key to our goals in life. For our minds are an infinite field and our mindset controls it. When we set our aims, we challenge our minds by seeking to achieve more and grow proactively.

Having a growth mindset allows us to defy the limits that we set for ourselves. Growth mindset can affect us in all facets of  life. It helps us achieve more in our personal and professional feats. It changes our attitude towards our work and opens new opportunities for growth.

It leads to self-awareness that is essential in acknowledging our mistakes and drives us to correcting and changing them. With a growth mindset, we are able to understand that our inhibitions are only limits that we set upon ourselves. We should always remind ourselves that we hold so much potential and that our mindset plays an underrated role in our success.

 

 

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