How familiar are you with the concept of a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset?
This is something I didn’t know much about for the longest time, but understanding the difference has been instrumental in getting over so many of my own personal hurdles.
A fixed mindset means to believe that your intelligence and abilities are fixed and static. What you’re born with is what you get. You might learn things but you’ll be susceptible to a limited view of what is possible for you to learn or become good at.
A growth mindset means to believe that intelligence and talents can be improved through effort and learning. There’s really no limit to what you can achieve if you’re willing to put in the energy.
Fixed mindset behaviors include things like avoiding challenges, fear of failure, hiding flaws, deflecting criticism, giving up easily, or feeling threatened by the success of others.
Behaviors indicative of a growth mindset include embracing lifelong learning,
believe skills and talents can be learned and improved, seeing others’ success as inspiration, seeing failures as just temporary setbacks, and viewing feedback as an opportunity to learn.
And while obviously the growth mindset is preferable and that’s what we all want (and probably believe we have), it can be a little trickier than that.
Most of us reside somewhere on a spectrum between fixed and growth mindsets. And while we might be very growth oriented in one aspect of our lives, we can be very fixed in another. Have you ever caught yourself saying something like, “well, I’m just bad at money,” or “I’ll never learn how to cook,” or “I could never be in a relationship where I don’t get _____”?
Theoretically you could learn and change yourself around all these things, but it also sets up an interesting dilemma. What are our traits that we can work on and improve for ourselves, and what are parts of ourselves that we might need or want to accept how they are?
I’ll be hosting a mini workshop / discussion on this topic via Zoom on Thursday, December 16, at 1 p.m. PST. I’d love for you to join! The link to sign up is right here.
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Storytelling is a fascinating aspect of how we perceive the world and exist as humans. If you’d like to learn more, download the Storytelling Primer below and start learning more about storytelling today.
For a long time I knew there was a different version of me that I wanted to be. That person would be more open, expressive, curious, and excited for life… but I didn’t know how to get there.