Definition of Growth Mindset
What is a Growth Mindset?
A growth mindset is the belief that the our natural talent and intellect is just a starting point for learning.
Through the growth mindset perspective, hard work and dedication and can overcome any perceived shortcomings in ourselves.
This mindset allows us to believe that we can accomplish great things once we challenge ourselves.
The growth mindset embraces failures as temporary setbacks. More importantly, failures are viewed as lessons on our path to success.
Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset
People with a growth mindset view talent, abilities, and intelligence, as learnable qualities. This means that they are capable of improvement through effort.
People with a fixed mindset believe that we are limited to the intelligence and talents that we are born with. Through this perspective, our inherent traits are stable and unchangeable over time.
Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset Examples
Example 1:
Fixed Mindset: I am too shy to present in front of class.
Growth Mindset: With practice I can become a better public speaker.
Example 2:
Fixed Mindset: When I receive feedback from people it feels critical and I get upset.
Growth Mindset: I welcome criticism because it will help me learn and get better.
Example 3:
Fixed Mindset: Other people’s success makes me feel bad about myself.
Growth Mindset: Other people’s success inspires me and helps show what is possible for me.
Example 4:
Fixed Mindset: I get embarrassed when I make mistakes.
Growth Mindset: Everyone makes mistakes, and mistakes are an opportunity to learn.
Growth Mindset Quotes
“Many of life’s failures are people who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up.”
– Thomas Edison
“A winner is a dreamer who never gives up.”
– Nelson Mandela
“Challenges are what make life interesting. Overcoming them is what makes life meaningful.”
– Joshua J. Marine
“The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do.”
– Steve Jobs
“The difference between the difficult and the impossible is that the impossible takes a little longer time.”
– Lady Aberdeen
“It does not matter how slowly you go so long as you do not stop.”
– Confucius
“An expert is a person who has made all the mistakes that can be made in a very narrow field.”
– Niels Bohr
“In fact, stories of people of achievement often show that obstacles and struggles are the stepping stones to success.”
– Michal Stawicki
“Being challenged in life is inevitable, being defeated is optional.”
– Roger Crawford
“It’s the ability to resist to use failure that often leads to great success.”
– J.K. Rowling
“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.”
– Frank A. Clark
“Success is the ability to go from one failure to another with no loss of enthusiasm.”
– Winston Churchill
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all.”
– Dale Carnegie
“Failure is the condiment that gives success its flavor.”
– Truman Capote
“The most rewarding things you do in life are often the ones that look like they cannot be done.”
– Arnold Palmer
Growth Mindset Activities
Here a few activities that can be used to move away from a fixed mindset and towards a growth mindset.
A growth mindset helps us to look at negative situations more positively and to continue to try when we fail. It also encourages us to persevere in the face of challenges and failure.
With a growth mindset we all can embrace learning as an ongoing process in our lives.
1. Self-awareness Exercise
The first exercise helps us become more aware of our identity and our perceived strengths and weaknesses. Start off by listing three of our greatest strengths and three of our weaknesses. Our perceived identity is a starting point in knowing what we need to improve upon to accomplish our goals.
2. Negative to Positive Exercise
We should then take the three weaknesses we listed and rephrase them so that they are no longer negative statements. For example:
Negative: “I am terrible at math”.
Positive: “Math is not my strongest subject, but if I study more I will get better”.
The way we describe ourselves to ourselves have a great impact in our belief in our abilities. It’s important that we perceive ourselves as having the ability to learn and become good at any subject, task etc.
3. Take Action
Another simple activity to embrace the growth mindset is to become more of a doer.
Don’t just sit around thinking of all the things that you would like to become or accomplish.
Actively work towards those things. Try something new each day. Read about a new topic you know nothing about. Try a new cuisine you’ve never tried before. Watch a foreign movie with subtitles.
The more we expose our self to new information and try new things, the more we will learn and grow.
