How to Develop a Growth Mindset

How to Develop a Growth Mindset

Have you considered the difference between a fixed and a growth mindset? I didn’t either until I heard the terms for the first time! After learning what each one means, it made complete sense to me. So many people (me included) stay stuck in a season of life because they deal with a fixed mindset. But once you learn how to develop a growth mindset, you may see that quicksand quickly disappear.

If you are new to these terms and want to know what a growth mindset is, read this article. But don’t stay away for long, come on back! So, you can learn how to cultivate a growth mindset in both you and your children.

Self-Reflection

The first step to creating a growth mindset starts with self-reflection. You have to be completely honest with yourself and figure out where you stand in the grand scheme of things. Where do you fall on the line between fixed mindset and growth mindset?

The truth is that no one has just a growth mindset, and no one has just a fixed mindset. The majority of people are a mixture of both sets. So, as you start off on this journey, take a second and write down what you find yourself constantly saying to yourself. Do you say things like “I can’t” or “She is so much better than me?” or do you say things such as “I may not know this yet, but I can learn.”

Self-Awareness

While self-awareness and self-reflection are similar in a sense, they both mean different things.

The definition of self-reflection is:

“Meditation or serious thought about one’s character, actions, and motives.”

The definition of self-awareness is:

“Conscious knowledge of one’s own character, feelings, motives, and desires.”

Where self-reflection is taking the time to understand your actions, self-awareness is being already conscious as to why you act, feel, etc., a certain way.

There are many people who lack complete self-awareness. However, in order to develop a growth mindset, it’s important to do as much self-reflection as you can so you can become more and more self-aware.

Continue to Study/Learn

When people have a fixed mindset, they believe that no amount of studying or learning about a specific topic will help them grow. However, the more you study and learn, the more you broaden your knowledge. One way to develop your mindset is by studying and staying open-minded about learning. Knowledge continuously builds upon itself if you are willing to dive deep and learn something new often.

Celebrate Small Successes

Developing a growth mindset is not a sprint; it’s a marathon. There will be days where everything feels like a struggle, and you feel like you are stuck in that quicksand. However, the more you work towards a goal, and take tiny steps every day, the easier reaching that goal will be.

Don’t wait until reaching the finish line before you celebrate. Celebrate the progress as you go.

Change Your Perspective

This is easier said than done, but when we change our perspective, it challenges us to grow our minds. This requires taking small conscious steps to being mindful of how we are thinking. Sometimes our thoughts flit through our brains because it’s habit. So, growing your mindset challenges you to capture every thought and ask yourself, “Is this thought helping me?”

Focus on Positive Attributes and Actions 

Negativity keeps people stuck. However, being positive will keep you in a mindset that is more helpful to your day to day life. Instead of focusing on everything going wrong or how you have failed in an area, try to focus on things that have gone right.

This is why focusing on gratitude and strengths is important in positive psychology.

Set Small Actionable Goals 

It’s easy to set broad-range goals that seem abstract. However, in order to truly crush that goal, you’re going to have to set small, actionable goals. When you reach each goal, don’t be afraid to celebrate!

Ask For Constructive Feedback

Those who are stuck in a fixed mindset often see constructive feedback as an attack on their personal character. However, asking for constructive feedback can help you acknowledge areas that need some growth.

Constructive feedback can also help you pinpoint strengths that you have that you may not see but others do.

Ask Questions

Asking questions is a great way to push us out of our fixed mindsets. Some great questions to ask yourself are:

• Why do I have this thinking pattern?
• What strengths do I have?
• How does focusing on this failure help me?
• Can I be missing something?
• Is this way of thinking going to improve my life?

Often times, we develop our thinking patterns when we are young. Sometimes we think a certain way simply because someone told us to think that way. However, developing our own way of thinking, challenging why we think a certain way, and learn how to do our own research can help us develop a growth mindset.

Use the Word Yet Not Can’t 

If you find yourself using the word can’t a lot, you can challenge this thinking. Instead of saying can’t replace the word with yet.

For example, instead of saying I can’t do this, try saying I don’t know how to do it yet. Changing how we speak to ourselves can have such an impact.

Remember, Failure Doesn’t Mean You Suck

Failure is a part of life. It happens to everyone. How we handle failure really determines our success. Do you give in and throw in the towel when you fail? Or do you see the failure as a learning opportunity?

Remember, Challenges Help You Grow 

Challenges often keep people feeling stuck. However, they can actually help us grow if we let them. Pushing through, learning new ways to try something, and more all help us strengthen a growth mindset.

Applying a Growth Mindset in Positive Parenting 

Now that you know some ways to develop a growth mindset in your own life, let’s talk about our children.

Parents and Children Have a Connected Mindset

Whether we try to or not, we are modeling mindsets for our children. Parents who adopt a growth mindset are more likely to pass that on to their children. On the flip side, a parent who has a fixed mindset may more likely pass it on to their children.

Our mindsets are linked or connected to our parents’ and our children. This is one reason it can be so difficult to break a fixed mindset. It’s likely you have had the same mindset your whole life, unless you have worked hard to change it.

Become a Healthy Model of a Growth Mindset

If you want your child to have a healthy growth mindset, it starts with you. Model how to have one when you are interacting with your child. Share growth mindset language with them, continue to push through challenges, and try new things.

Your child will learn through watching you how to create their own growth mindset.

Mindset Affects Child’s Self-Esteem and Resilience

Having a growth mindset can affect a child’s self-esteem and resilience. Knowing how to work through challenges and failures is a vital part of growing up. A fixed mindset will keep your child stuck and hold them back. However, a growth mindset will help them learn how to see challenges in a new light.

Why is it Important to Adopt a Growth Mindset?

As I stated earlier, having a growth mindset is important for our future success. You can still be successful with a fixed mindset. However, a fixed mindset can hold you back in areas where you would rather see yourself grow. If you want to challenge yourself, it starts first with your mind. Do you have experience with cultivating a growth mindset? Share your experience in the comments below! (Now Read: How to Explain Intrusive Thoughts to Your Kids.)