How can you develop a growth mindset to adapt in Financial Services?

Our own minds are often the trickers to prevent us from growing. These trickers made us believe that we are not able to achieve, therefore scare of failures, resulting to low self-esteem, and eventually turning defensive to new ideas and feedbacks. It can become toxic and innate if we constantly feed the fixed mindset. To cultivate a growth mindset, one can practise the followings: 1) Start with a love for learning - learning a simple skill, pick up a course in photography or baking. this will boost your self esteem. 2) Set incremental goals - simple yet achievable, one step at a time. 3) Celebrate Effort, Not Just Results: The process is more important than the results. 4) Use growth-oriented language: speak positivity to your words.

A study by Stanford University found that students with a growth mindset were more likely to achieve their academic goals than students with a fixed mindset. People with a growth mindset see setbacks as opportunities to learn and grow, rather than as evidence of their inadequacy. There are many things you can do to cultivate a growth mindset, such as seeking out challenges, embracing feedback, and celebrating the success of others. Even animals can have a growth mindset! A study on dogs found that dogs who were praised for their effort, rather than for their intelligence, were more likely to persist in the face of challenges.

It’s a battle of wants and taking action . Many want to be successful, wealthy, healthy but they are “fixed” to their daily comfortable zone. To grow, one need to break free from the traditional mindset by constantly challenging and taking small positive changes. Our mind muscle is like a rubber band, the gentle you stretch, the longer it grows. Likewise if yiu stretch it hard and fast, it will snaps. Begin by learning self awareness of your emotions and behaviour, each time you resist in a feedback to grow, lock it in and reflect why. It can be an approach by training your mind to recognise the emotions and actions that occurs by telling it to do perform a simple task. Starting is hard, with practise, it improves overtime.

As we seek to grow, taking care of our emotions is essentials, it is like planting a seed and watering it, taking care of the infant and watching it grow. You can seek these challenges for opportunities to learn: 1) Pursue professional certifications- opens up network and be confident. Lifelong learning brings reward. 2) Listen to financial podcast - constant listening opens up the mind and brings fresh ideas. 3) Participate in online forums and discussions - join an online professional network like LinkedIn and join interest groups to participate in their discussions. 4) Take on new projects and roles: this is crucial, if you think you are ready to handle any feedback or challenges, why not volunteer and try! Dream Big, Start Small!

"Feedback is the bridge between expectations and results." It is never too shy to ask for feedback, it is ensuring that you can handle the feedback and applying what you received into actions that is essential to the success. 3 effective approaches to ask for feedback: 1) Conducting a survey or poll: this is the best non-verbal and anonymous approach to gather and improve on without the direct confrontation! 2) Solicit suggestions and recommendations: reach out to individual directly to request for their inputs. This targted approach is particularly effective on mentors or experienced colleagues who can provide guidance. 3) Performance review: Approach your supervisor to conduct a formal review. Use it as an opportunity to grow!

"Education is the kindling of a flame, not the filling of a vessel."-Socrates The above quote talks about transformative and continuous nature of learning. Suggesting that education is not just cumulating of informaiton but igniting preputial curiosity and passion of learning. 3 approaches that is effective: 1) embrace curisoity and openness: actively seek out information beyond your immediate responsibilities, set aside some time for self learning weekly. 2) Seek mentorship or role models: Learn from their success, challenges and lessons throughout their careers. 3) Reflect on learning and actions: Develop a habit to reflect to gain insights on experiences and actions. Can also set aside time weekly to journal down your learning.

I was in the "normal" academics' class, studied 4 years instead of 3 for my diploma, have a "F" printed on 1 of my subjects in my degree transcript. Yet, I pursue my career, transitioning from Engineering to Finance over a course of 15 years. Without a growth mindset and a burning desire to succeed, i could have failed. Sometimes the greatest motivation can come from a simple word of encouragement. I manage to preserve and grow with the encouragement of my lecturer from my diploma, and my 1st employment boss. Both believe in life-long learning and a resilience attitude, taking small steps to achieve one milestone at a time. Without them and a supporting community, grow mindset is not possible. Start by taking small steps to grow!