It’s All In Your Head: Fixed vs. Growth Mindsets

If success sits at one end of the spectrum, it stands to reason that failure sits at its counter opposite.

But the truth is, failure is simply the void of moving ahead. Sometimes being blocked by a fixed mindset- or a way of thinking that is limiting, unmoving, and minimally subject to improvement- is the result of getting stuck in a level of understanding. 

The antidote to being stuck? Being open to the possibility of growth. 

People who strive for continual education and training develop what’s known as a growth mindset. These are the folks who are in a constant process of improvement, self-reflection, expanding knowledge of the world around, and refining their innate talents and personal resources.

These are the people who believe nothing is truly impossible. They are the inquisitive thinkers and voracious learners who constantly probe for uncomplicated answers about how to connect in a complicated world.

So how do you begin to adopt a growth mindset? 

1. Be open to falling down (and ready to get back up again). Those seeking personal betterment allow themselves to fail, and see missteps as an opportunity to learn and recalibrate. 

2. Don’t get stuck on fixed results, value the process. 

3. Leave your comfort zone! What’s comfortable is not what grows you forward. 

4. Make time for education and training. Education is the first step for people to gain the knowledge, critical thinking, empowerment and skills they need to expand their horizons (and maybe even make the world a better place). 

5. Don’t compare yourself to those around you. Your journey is your own; your own pace, your own rules. As Theodore Roosevelt famously said, “Comparison is the thief of joy.”