Developing a growth mindset
Sabrina Riley ??????????
Changing billions of lives with sustainable and aligned success created through authenticity and vulnerability | 15+ years of trans(formational) expertise | Transgender woman | Bestselling Author
How do you feel about change?
I have been praciticing a growth mindset well before I knew the science behind it. When I was a child my mom taught me that I could "do anything I put my mind to". This one mindset has been the single biggest success in my life. And this mindset has continued to get stronger.
The hidden limits from a fixed mindest might not be what you would expect. Of course a fixed mindset includes what you typically think of. This includes a limit belief based on performance.
The science tells us that a fixed mindset also includes believe performance menas more than effort. For example, let's use this in terms of a sales job. If I regulary make a $5,000 commission monthly I will believe this is what I am reasonably capapble of. If my goal is to make a $10,000 commission I will have trouble doing if I don't believe I am reasonably capable of this goal. Regardless of the work I put in consciously or subconsciously I will continue to limit myself around $5,000 monthly.
Instead if I were to take a growth mindset I would not focus on the performance. I would believe that I am not aware of what my limits are. I would believe that the sky is the limit and finding that limit will be almost impossible. I would focus on the effort that was used to gain that $5,000 commission. I would believe that a $10,000 commission or an even greater one would be possible if I keep putting in great effort. I would not feel limited by intelligence. I would not feel limited by ability to make additional sales. I would simply understand that if I put my mind to it I can make it happen.
This is how I have come to not only believe in my efforts to continually grow personally and professionally, but also to not resist change. Resisting change is about now knowing your own potential. It is about not believing that change could bring about a life better than what you previously imagined.
The fact is both stress and change can enhance your life. Stress is defined as "pressure or tension exeted on a material object". I enjoy this definition of stress because it is neither positive nor negative. Stress and change are simply how we define and categorize our circumstances. That is not to say that trauma or certain types of chronic stress are not unhealthy. However, short term stress and change can be quite beneficial to you in the long term.
Dopamine drives motivation. Not only can you learn to believe in your efforts but you can learn to be motivated by short term stress and change. Both enhacements in your mindset simply requires reflection.
Ask yourself, when is the last time your efforts helped you level up in some aspect of your life? Ask yourself, when is the last time you adapted to a particular stressor or change that helped you to level of up?