What kind of mindset do you have?
What happens when you don’t meet your goals? What about when you miss the mark? When you try something, and it doesn’t work out. Do you say, “oh I guess I don’t have what it takes to do this” and stop trying? What if you met failure or setbacks in your life with the attitude of “not yet” instead of “I give up.”
It is a powerful idea.
The key to understanding how people achieve great things in life is in their attitude and mindset. According to Carol S. Dweck, a professor of Psychology at Sandford University, our implicit belief about what contributes to success or failure has a tremendous impact. Apparently, these beliefs begin in childhood.
Dweck began her work looking at why some students rebounded after failure and others were not able to work through setbacks. She focused on motivation and its connection to academic performance. However, she found that the student’s belief in the fluidity of their intelligence was more of a factor. Her research discovered that resilience had a foundation in the belief that things can change and that students can do better. These students were more motivated and had higher achievements. On the other hand, other students believed that their abilities, intelligence, and talents were fixed. She found that the latter group of people feared failure because failure was a comment on their talents and abilities. Failure would then be translated into an interpretation of “I am not good enough” “I don’t have what it takes”
Neuroplasticity
Neuroscientific research into learning has dramatically changed the way we look at change. Neuroplasticity – a new field which arose from these findings – describes the ways that the brain can restructure itself, adapt to new circumstances, grow new cells and strengthen neurologic pathways, through repetitive practices. This research sheds light on the human ability to essentially change the structure of the brain. As needs change, the brain adapts and changes as it tunes itself to a new habit or practice. We can change the brain through focus and practice. You can teach an old dog new tricks. We need to adopt a growth mindset
Growth Mindset versus Fixed Mindset
Dweck differentiated these two mindsets as a Growth Mindset and a Fixed Mindset. Although there is no pure form, the distinction is helpful to think about how to approach the things that we want to take on in our lives.
A growth mindset features characteristics such as:
– A belief in lifelong learning
– Being open to criticism and feedback
– Embracing challenges
– Persisting towards the goal despite setbacks
– Effort is seen as a path to mastery
– An ability to find life lessons and inspiration in failures
– An experience of a greater sense of free will
On the other side, a fixed mindset is characterized by:
– An interest in looking good
– Avoiding challenges
– Giving up easily
– An attitude that effort is useless and fruitless
– Ignores negative feedback
– An experience of a deterministic view of the world
Practicing Growth Mindset
Research into these students has proven that we can change our mindset and those who practice a growth mindset are more resilient in the face of failure. They see mistakes as opportunities to learn. It was found that children who were recognized for the effort that they put into their accomplishment were more likely to develop a growth mindset rather than equating success with intelligence.
The importance of adopting this mindset is so relevant in the fact of significant transitions in adult life – for example, if we are starting a business, taking a new job, moving to a new country or another life change that can shake things for us.
This is what we can do to help practice a growth mindset:
– Become aware of your gifts, talents, and weaknesses – this practice involves self-reflection and also asking others for feedback
– Actively make growth and learning visitation by being curious and by asking for clarification
– Embrace challenges – this means that we act when confronted by challenges and assuming responsibility for our behaviour and attitudes rather than blame others.
If you are curious about your mindset, you can take a free quiz/assessment http://blog.mindsetworks.com/what-s-my-mindset?view=quiz
Questions for reflection
1) When faced with a challenge, what is your typical reaction? What did you do the last time you faced a setback? Did you give up or persevere and what was the end result?
2) When you were younger, how did your parents react when you received poor grades, and do you think it factored into how you think/react to adversity as an adult?
3) Reflect on your strengths and weaknesses and jot down three for each. Can your weaknesses be improved?
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