Fixed Mindset v Growth Mindset
Have you ever wanted to change something about your life?
Perhaps your career, health, or a relationship? Where is the first place to start?
Well, before you do anything else, you need to start with your mindset.
This is related to how you are thinking, how you perceive the world, your view on it. Because that's going to influence your life so much. You can only see as much as you allow yourself to see.
There are 2 types of mindset - a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
If you've got a fixed mindset, you think
This is my life
This is the way I am
These are the cards been given to me - that's my lot
I'm not changing. Don't want to change. I can't change. I won't change
And if that’s your mindset, then nothing is likely to change.
If you have a growth mindset however, you have that belief that things can change.
I can look at this differently.
I can try again.
I can get some feedback.
I can learn something else.
And by doing all of those things, life changes.
Sometimes you'll have a fixed mindset in some things and a growth mindset in another. Perhaps you have a growth mindset in your professional career, because there is so much change happening in the organization. You almost don't have a choice. You have to keep moving with the organisation.
However, perhaps you have a fixed mindset in your relationship between you and your children. For those who have adult children, sometimes when we don't change with that relationship, it can become very toxic. Suddenly the dynamic changes, conversations are different. You can't fix them anymore. But if your view on your role is fixed, and you keep telling them what to do and how, the relationship may become dysfunctional, toxic even.
That’s when a change in mindset is the key.
We can't solve our problems with the same thinking we used when we created them. Usually when we create problems, we're not thinking at the time, usually we're just an emotional mess and we'll say something, or we'll do something. We've got a problem. But to solve that problem, we are not going to be able to do it in that emotional state. We need to rise above it. We need to clear our heads. We need to get our thinking caps on. We have to be logical and that's when we solve it.
Which areas do you have a fixed mindset and which areas do you have a growth mindset?