Growth Mindset | What is a Growth Mindset & How to Develop it?

I watched a documentary called “Return to Space” on Netflix. I was fascinated by? Elon Musk's and SpaceX engineers’ passion and solution focused attitude. They reminded me how important it is to have a growth mindset in order to achieve our goals. Therefore this weeks subject is “ How to develop a growth mindset?”

But first things first :)?

What is a Growth Mindset?

People with a growth mindset believe that skill and intelligence can develop and success comes from constant personal development.

What is a Fixed Mindset?

By contrast, those with fixed mindsets believe that talent and intelligence are something you either have or you don’t.

Characteristics of Growth Mindset & Fixed Mindset

I am a visual person and l like getting to the point straight away. Here is a visual summary of the characteristics of both growth mindsets and fixed mindsets:

I wonder which ones resonated with you the most?

Did you have a little proud moment with the thought of " OMG I have been doing this already, I have a growth mindset" or "Oops, there is something I need to work on..."

Maybe you have characteristics of both? The truth is there is no either or. We all have both mindsets on different topics:)

How To Develop a Growth Mindset?

1. Acceptance: Acceptance is the first step to change something. Accept your fixed mindset. We don't have to be perfect. Interestingly, sometime being a perfectionist can feed the fixed mindset...
2. Self Observation: As I mentioned above, there are times when the fixed mind comes into play. The reason might be the way we have been raised, our experiences, our cultural codes etc... and we can change it. One of the best ways to change is self observation. It always reminds me a bird's eye view. Sometimes we need to step out of our busy lives and find a way to see ourselves from all aspects, like 360 view. Once you notice how you think, feel and react to certain situations then try to pay attention to how you talk to yourself. For example: What kind of self-talk do you have when you make a mistake? Do you tell yourself that you're an idiot or do you soothe yourself to be more careful next time. Most of us have negative self-talk automatically. So next time when you make a mistake (either small or big) try to be compassionate to yourself instead of criticizing yourself harshly.
3. Name Your Fixed Mindset: Carol Dweck the author of Mindset suggests that we should create a persona for our fixed mindset and name it. Let's call mine Amy (my fake Irish name while booking a table on the phone - it makes my life much easier). Whenever you notice you are using a fixed mindset, remember that it's our fixed mindset persona, Amy. We can ask questions to Amy and get a better understanding of her with questions such as what happened? What did she feel? Why did she feel like this? What did she do? What did she say? How did she affect the people around her?
4. Mindfulness Exercises: One of the core principle of mindfulness exercises is to approach yourself and others without judgement. Let's be honest we all make judgements, but the research tells us that people with fixed mindset tend to judge almost everything and everyone according to their experiences. I believe that mindfulness exercises help a lot if we want to develop a growth mindset. If you're new, you can start with quick 3 steps breathing space . My personal favorites are mindful coffee and mindful walking .
5. Mindfulness Meditations: If you like the exercises above you may continue to practice sitting meditation (including thoughts and emotions), open-awareness .
6. Journaling: Expressive journaling helped me a lot to develop a growth mindset, it still does... That's the reason I created the 4 Week Mindful Journaling - Self Coaching Course . The first one was in extreme demand and I still receive questions about the next installment - I am on it, stay tuned for the upcoming courses :)
7. The Power of Yet: Whenever you find yourself saying " I can't do this" add "yet" to the end of your sentence. Believe me, it strengthens your self-belief and self-esteem.
8. Feedback is a Gift: I know it's a cliche but it's 100% true. Of course, it depends on who you get feedback from, but getting feedback from people you trust or you work with is a very valuable tool for self-improvement.

I also found the questions below very useful. Either as an individual or as a parent.

Further reading

• Mindset: The New Psychology of Success - Carol Dweck?

Related movies

• Forrest Gump
• Dangal

Thanks for reading Mindfully Yours newsletter, I hope you enjoyed the topic. Here are some ways to access more mindful living tips:

→ Contact me if you're interested in to work together on Mindfulness Coaching.

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Warmly,

Emine