Growth Mindset - key to success

Are you not innovating enough? Are you struggling with failures? If you are, then this is for you.

Hi I am Chirodip and continuing the series on success, today we discuss the second key element to success - Growth mindset. We talk about “taking action”, being comfortable with failure and enjoying the journey.

Dr. Carol Dweck says: “The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments, everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”        

Dr. Carol Dweck says: “The growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments, everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”

The Growth Mindset methodology just opened my eyes to get out of my comfort zone and unleash my knowledge. Personally, it assisted me to further my educational opportunities. The growth mindset can be applied to everyone – children and adults. A growth mindset is a belief that abilities can be developed through effort, practice, and persistence.

A growth mindset helps us understand that success is not something that comes easily – especially at first. The reason we concentrate so much on cultivating a growth mindset is that it helps us become more successful. Everyone is capable of success to accomplish more than they have ever done before.

Individuals who believe their talents can be developed (through hard work, good strategies, and input from others) have a growth mindset. They tend to achieve more than those with a more fixed mindset (those who believe their talents are innate gifts). This is because they worry less about looking smart and they put more energy into learning. When an entire organisation embraces a growth mindset, their employees report feeling far more empowered and committed; they also receive far greater organizational support for collaboration and innovation. In contrast, people at primarily fixed-mindset companies report more of only one thing: cheating and deception among employees, presumably to gain an advantage in the talent race.

Success can happen when you act, so act.

Success is not an event, it is a process. To finish any endeavor, you must first start. This may not be the start of a new business but could simply be the start of a new idea, a new path or a new way. To be a standout success is to take each new beginning and follow it through to the end.

a)????Any challenge is actually an opportunity. When faced with any challenge, the natural reaction is of fight or flight. The most difficult one to embrace is Fear of Failure. It is deeply rooted and related to the fear of the unknown. The best way to start seeing challenges as opportunities is to experiment with them and not react to challenges but act and treat them as opportunities.

b)???Act smart, not look smart. More than intelligence, doing something smart or in a smart way is far more important. Being inherently smart is great, but it doesn’t ensure that one will act in that way. What can take you far closer to achieving a growth mindset is embracing the challenge than calculating how to leave the best possible impression.

c)????Overcome the fear of judgment and self-doubt. It's important not to worry about what other people think of you and just focus on doing the things that you need to do. Valuing approval over learning is similar to valuing the end product over the process! There will never be a moment in space and time in which everyone finds you the most beautiful, the smartest, the most talented, or capable. Cultivating self-acceptance and approval helps you become more confident, and consequently, makes you trust yourself more.

Get comfortable with failure.

Successful people are usually comfortable with failure because they know that without action, there will be no success.

Over a decade ago in 2005 when Elon Musk and Space X were first starting to create the Falcon I and Falcon V rockets, Musk told Fast Company that: "Failure is an option here. If things are not failing you are not innovating." This Elon Musk quote is an incredibly crucial concept for entrepreneurs to understand. If you want to thrive you have to put yourself out there--you have to get uncomfortable.

a)????Failure is life’s greatest teacher. Failure can act as a seed for two things: a road to despair or a springboard to growth. What grows out of the initial failure is entirely up to the person who “failed.” Like the most famous quote of Thomas Edison -"I have not failed. I've just found 10,000 ways that won't work."

b)???Failure will make you reach your potential. When the rewards of success are great, embracing possible failure is key to taking on a variety of challenges, whether you’re reinventing yourself by starting a new business or allowing yourself to trust another person to build a deeper relationship.

c)????Intelligent failures are at the frontier. The prevailing school of thought in progressive companies is that employees who have to deliver risky, edgy, breakthrough ideas, plans, presentations, advice, technology, products, leadership, bills and more, should deliver them fearlessly—without any fear whatsoever of failure, rejection or punishment. The act of not staying innovative itself can make you fail. So, if failure is an option no matter what, you should be fearless in your pursuits. Go after what you want no matter how huge or unheard of the idea is. And if that doesn't work, pivot and try again.

Enjoy the journey, you would have evolved at the end.

Success is a journey, not a destination. The doing is often more important than the outcome. Take for example a simple act of brushing your teeth twice a day. The act of brushing in itself does not ensure anything, but rather the absence of brushing does ensure that your teeth will be damaged in future.

a)????Trust yourself and Stop Procrastinating. A Harvard study found that we spend almost 50 percent of our time thinking about the past and future. If we instead focus on acting in the present, it leads to increased productivity. Take a call and then be ready to go with the consequences of that call.

b)???Enjoy small wins. List the steps you need to take to get to where you want to go and to do what you want to do. Every step towards your goal, every success on the way will build your motivation to achieve the next goal in front of you, and so on. All steps taken towards success are a gift because each right or wrong step will provide you knowledge and direction.

c)????Reflect daily. Track every action that pertains to an area where you want to see progress, whether it relates to finances, health, career, or relationships. Whether you are working with someone or going at it independently write everything down, every day without fail with no excuses or exceptions. Tracking your progress and missteps is the path to building success. The process forces you to be conscious of your decisions.

If you enjoy the journey, then it won't feel like work and it will be a lot more rewarding in the end.

The best way to succeed is to do the things that others aren't willing to do. In order to help you elevate your state of being and achieve a growth mindset, we’ve prepared this thorough list of advice. We hope it will serve you well!

—