What is Mindset? How does a Growth Mindset affect your life?

Does your mindset affect your life? Can changing the way you think affect your happiness, fulfillment and results you attain in life?

Micheal Jordan once said, “My attitude is that if you push me towards something that you think is a weakness, then I will turn that perceived weakness into a strength.”

That was his mindset and the reason for his successful career.

The Christian Bible also thinks so. “As a man thinks, so he is.”

A lot of research points evidence to the fact that the state of an individual’s mind affects his/her reality.

 

What is Mindset?

A mindset is a set of attitudes and belief patterns that fashions one’s notion of self and the world.

It is the way you think, your beliefs, and your attitude toward life and its challenges.

According to Carol Dweck, a mindset is a self-perception or “self-theory” that people hold about themselves.

A belief that you are a smart person is an example of a mindset. So is the belief that you are beautiful or handsome.

What is Right Mindset?

The right mindset sets you on the path to success and happiness. While a wrong mindset will always act as sabotage in your quest to become great.

Fixed mindset vs Growth mindset

According to Dweck, there are two types of mindset.

● The fixed mindset.
● The growth mindset.

The difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset can mean the difference between achieving your goals and never reaching your potential.

● The Fixed Mindset

The fixed mindset believes that your talents, skills, and abilities are fixed. They are constants that can’t change no matter what.

The fixed mindset believes that if you are talented at something, you don’t need to work hard for it. And if you put the effort into something, you aren’t good at it.

People with fixed mindsets often feel insecure about their abilities and worth. They may compare themselves unfavorably to others and feel like they are always falling short. This can lead to low self-esteem.

The fixed mindset applies the “all or nothing” law. If you are talented, you’ll always succeed while failure means you are nothing, a nobody.

There’s no room for improvement in the fixed mindset.

It is either you are talented in it or you are not.

A startup entrepreneur with a fixed mindset will see her setbacks as failures, meaning she’s not cut out for being an entrepreneur and will quit.

● The Growth Mindset

Going by its name, the growth mindset is all about growing and learning.

People with the growth mindset believe that talents, skills, and intelligence are not fixed but can be improved on.

They believe that failure means, “This path didn’t work, try again.”

While the fear of failure prevents people with a fixed mindset from trying something new, those with the growth mindset jump head-on into a new challenge with the thought of learning something new and building their skill set.

A student with a growth mindset believes hard work pays whether he is intelligent or not.

An entrepreneur with a growth mindset would see setbacks as a learning curve, leading her to a successful business.

The focus of a growth mindset is to learn. A fixed mindset wants to avoid failure at all costs– even at the cost of not trying.

A fixed mindset is satisfied with doing that simple thing that reinforces one’s image as somebody skilled, intelligent, and talented.

On the other hand, a growth mindset looks to climb higher and learn new things, even if one experiences failure.

A growth mindset is the right mindset for success. One can succeed with a fixed mindset. Though when failure intercepts, it is difficult to recover because of the belief that failure is a stigma that means you are a nobody.

How can you develop a Growth Mindset?

Having a growth mindset entails that you accept that everything isn’t constant. Your talent. Intelligence, attitude, and character. You can improve on everything.

A growth mindset means you accept failure as a stepping stone to success and not the end.

Having a growth mindset demands that you cultivate the desire to improve yourself and learn new things.

9 ways your Mindset can affect your life

• Mindset affects your Beliefs & Perspective

Your mindset affects the way you see yourself and the world, your self-discipline and how you achieve your goals. Such beliefs will influence what you do and how you do it.

If you don’t believe in yourself, who will?

Having faith in yourself is the first step to achieving success and developing a growth mindset.

• Thinking Positively

Thinking positively can lead to a more successful and fulfilling life.

Fact is things may not be how you want it to be in your life right now but you can choose to not let it affect you negatively.

Think positive and take control of things to improve the situation you’re in now.

Always maintain a positive mindset and attitude even through the hard times.

E.g. If you believe you are a quick learner, you’ll always want to learn new things, no matter how hard they seem.

If you think yourself beautiful, you will act with the confidence of beautiful people.

• Thinking Negatively 

Negative thinking can prevent you from achieving your goals and reaching your full potential.

If you believe you are not smart, you won’t do the things that ‘smart’ people do.

• Attitude towards failure

If you see failure as proof that one is a ‘nobody’, you’ll see yourself as a nobody when you fail.

On the other hand, if you believe failure is an opportunity to learn. When you fail, you’ll have that opportunity to learn.

You gotta be persistent to achieve your goals in life. Continuing to pursue those goals despite setbacks or obstacles can lead to success.

• Goal setting mindset

Setting and achieving goals can help you create the life you want.

Break down your goals into small achievable steps. Practice discipline in your routines and habits to achieve those goals.

• Develop Growth Mindset

How having a growth mindset can help you achieve your goals and improve your life? It’s simple. Be willing to grow and improve yourself. And whenever you are slipping into a fixed mindset, remind yourself that you can always learn something you think you aren’t good at.

It’s not always easy, but changing your mindset is possible with hard work and dedication. Here’s how you can do it.

The Danger of a Fixed Mindset

A person with a fixed mindset is often afraid to try new things, for fear of appearing stupid or failing. This can lead to stagnation and a feeling of being trapped.

They may miss out on opportunities because they are unwilling to take risks. This can prevent them from experiencing new things and growing as a person.

A fixed mindset can limit a person’s ability to see other perspectives or consider new possibilities. This narrow-mindedness can lead to missed opportunities and Closed-mindedness.

• Gratitude mindset

Gratefulness can improve your wellbeing, relationships, and overall satisfaction with life.

No matter how big your goals are if you don’t decide to be grateful for each moment you’re never going to be fulfilled.

Being judgmental

Everyone has once been guilty of this.
Never judge someone unless you know their full story. And how much do you think you can know their full story?

Judge not and you will not be judged.

What if you develop the attitude of not judging people randomly or jumping into conclusions? How do you think it can improve your mindset in life?

I can assure you, it’ll improve your thinking, social skills and the kind of people you attract in your life. 

• Mentorship  

Waiting and trying to figure out everything on your own without anyone to hold your accountable especially if your life or business is in a whole lot of mess already is self-sabotage.

You’re only going to see real results in your life and business once you change your mindset.

Change your mindset and question from What if I fail? to What if you succeed?⁣

In summary

Your mindset affects the trajectory of your life, whether you’ll be a fighter or a quitter.

The right mindset leads you to greater heights while the wrong one leads you wrong.

Decide to choose the right one today.

 

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