Do you suffer from a fixed mindset and need to change but don’t know how?
Are mindset and belief what shapes the workings of neuroplasticity and decide whether we can learn, change and grow?
From the outline of your face to the size of your big toe, your body’s physical characteristics are more or less entirely predetermined from birth thanks to DNA.
But what about our human intelligence and physical abilities, like playing tennis, drawing or solving complex math problems? Are those traits inborn or learned? Today, most scientists agree that if you want to become a talented pianist, you not only need to have a musical disposition but must commit years of your life to practice.
But what makes the difference in people achieving their goals where others fail? Over 2000 years ago the buddhist already knew that mindset and perception of the world around us and our place in it plays a critical role in becoming who we are.
Let's take a closer look into the concept of a fixed versus a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe they are naturally gifted at doing some things. Whereas people with a growth mindset believe they can become whizzes in whatever they set their mind to if they try hard enough.
So the people with a growth mindset continue growing throughout their lives, acquiring new skills without reservation and actively engaging in their development. For them, life in all its facets is in a continued state of change, something we now know is the nature of nature itself.
By contrast, people with a fixed mindset often let their preconceived concepts of the world and way of thinking obstruct their growth. If they fail at something, they throw in the towel or worse, blame others for their shortcomings. They expect everlasting love in their relationships rather than working on the relationships themselves. They foresee no changes in their work life or social circles and act surprised if the stock market dives.
Our mindset shapes whether we believe we can learn and change and grow.
In the fixed mindset - A person’s capabilities are set in stone.
People with a fixed mindset believe that inborn talent is king. In their view, a person’s abilities are set in stone from the get-go; a person is, by nature, either intelligent and talented or stupid and incompetent, and will remain that way.
People with a fixed mindset believe that employees, for example, who are not perfect from the get-go never will be, so it’s best to let them go quickly.
Moreover, people with a fixed mindset believe they can only do things they exhibit a natural aptitude for – that practice certainly will not make a bigger dent or bring change. Since fixed mindset people are quick to sit in judgement of themselves and other people as being adequate or inadequate at what they do, they assume others are judging them all the time, too. Hence, they feel the need to show how talented and smart they are every chance they get, and the mental pressure is on!
They believe their entire personality is at stake: one slip-up could be enough to brand them as incompetent fools for life. They constantly seek approval from others to protect their egos and confirm that they really are as great as they believe they are. In the fixed mindset the person's self-image is trapped within.
In the growth and development mindset, the possibilities are endless and the internal pressure is reduced.
For example; when children with a growth mindset are given difficult math or engineering problems to solve at school, they bounce on to the challenge and want to do more creative problem-solving. They recognize that the more problems they solve, the more they learn and the more stimulated they become. A developed personal development trait that will pay dividends in the future.
There is no limit when it comes to creative problem-solving possibilities for children with a growth mindset. It’s hard to define their precise degree of intelligence today, let alone predict what it may be tomorrow. These kids believe they can learn more and don't shy away from uncertainty or longer projects that take dedication and perseverance.
If you ask growth mindset people about their motivations they answer that they want to feel the satisfaction of pushing themselves to the limits of their present capabilities. Whether in maths or sports, writing or engineering, they practice relentlessly, driven by passion and the inevitable occasional failure is seen as a learning possibility that can improve their skills.
People with a growth mindset appreciate any opportunity to learn from others in their field and are not afraid of saying so. They are not stuck in their self-judgmental minds and are always thinking about how they can overcome their faults and shortcomings.
In their relationships, they are not afraid to encourage their partners to continue learning and working on themselves. When they play sports, they play knowing they are benefiting the team. When they run a business, they respect their employees and are grateful for their work, and their honest opinions, however inconvenient the truth may be.
People with a growth mindset welcome problems and see them as challenges, not insurmountable obstacles that will lay bare the truth of their ineptness. They chose to place their energy into improving themselves and the world around them.
Growth and expansion are only achievable in the growth mindset.
Here is the main difference. People with a fixed mindset seek approval; those with a growth mindset seek development. The fixed mindset sees failures as disasters; the growth mindset sees them as opportunities.
Failure has dramatic repercussions for people with a fixed mindset. It can destroy the self-image, the ego suffers and the internal self-talk becomes even more toxic. People with a fixed mindset do not really believe they can learn from their mistakes. They see a single failure as evidence that they are not good enough - forever! One defeat negates and devalues all past successes.
To preserve whatever little self-confidence they have, people with a fixed mindset use language that excuses their behaviour and blames others, or they turn ignorant as they look the other way. They do not glimpse inside and analyze their weaknesses, and they certainly do not try to get better by practising. They see themselves as a finished and failed product of nature – not a continual process.
People with a fixed mindset avoid difficulties; those with a growth mindset relish them.
Many things in life can only be achieved through effort. Yet when people with a fixed mindset are faced with a difficult situation, all they can see are risks, because the more time and energy they invest in something, the fewer excuses they have if they fail at it. And why walk into a dead-end street if you know that it won't lead anywhere? Fixed mindset people believe in the enormous power of their natural talent: gifted people should not need to try so hard.
This way of thinking makes it impossible for people with a fixed mindset to better themselves without questioning their skills and personality, and so, they often avoid difficult situations. They want to avoid potentially making a fool of themselves. Most fixed mindset people are stuck in avoidance loops that draw tighter and tighter as time goes on.
Challenges give people with a growth mindset the opportunity to pursue a purpose-filled life.
Our mindset is often strongly influenced by the role models we had as children. Mindset development begins at birth. Every baby comes into the world with a growth mindset: they want to learn and grow as much as possible each day. Parents know that the most asked questions by children anywhere on the planet is why.
Why do people do this or that? Why is the grass green? Why is the dog brown? Why is sugar sweet? Children are driven by the need to learn and grow.
The adults in a child’s environment – usually the parents, teachers and social circle – play a huge role in determining whether the child holds onto the desire to grow and develop or eventually adopts a fixed mindset.
Simply put, parents, teachers and the social circle set the mindset for the child. Growth mindset people encourage their children to continue learning, whereas those with a fixed mindset are always judging their children, telling them what is right or wrong, good or bad and begin to construct a black and white view of life.
Babies aged between one and three already act accordingly to what they learned: growth-mindset babies will try to help another baby who is crying; fixed-mindset babies, by contrast, are annoyed by it.
Our mindset is often strongly influenced by the role models we had as children.
Our mindset is not entirely predetermined. It can change as early as childhood when we adopt the mindsets of our role models. Anyone can adopt a growth mindset and make the impossible possible.
Nobody has to be a victim of their surroundings when developing their mindset, the brain is a flexible organ. The brain can be trained like any other muscle: if we want a growth mindset, we can train ourselves to think that way one step at a time by becoming mindful of the internal conversation and the way we speak to ourselves and the way we create our perception of reality and our place in it.
Here’s an example: you accidentally drop a glass of water on the floor. The first – fixed – thought might be, “I’m so inept!” While people who are mindful of their internal reactions, and their thought reflexes, can change and adopt a - growth - mindset by changing their thinking to, “Oh well no biggy, these things happen. I’ll be more careful next time.”
Working towards a growth mindset presents a great opportunity to become more open and seek support, to allow oneself to be more vulnerable and empathetic and talk about our faults and mistakes, and to learn from them and then turn them into plans for achieving our future goals.
It is important to understand that a fixed mindset is not easy to let go of. It has likely become an emotional crutch of sorts: its language shields us from seeing ourselves as failures it protects our self-confidence and it comforts us time and again, so getting rid of it can be extremely discomforting but the price we stand to gain by changing our mindset is immeasurable and only limited by your imagination and willingness.
Anyone can adopt a growth mindset and make the impossible possible.