Carol Dweck is famous for writing about the growth mindset vs fixed mindset. Fixed mindset is when you believe that your talent is fixed, and you close yourself to learn new things. Growth mindset is all about keeping your mind open and believing that your potential expands and is not something that is finite. Here are 6 ways you can develop a growth mindset.
Stay Curious – I love this word curiosity because all of us have need to exhibit this trait to win big in the current era of enormous disruption. Apart from that we can also enhance our talent with knowledge. We only act on what we know and once we increase our knowledge base the chances of our success increase exponentially. When you have a growth mindset you keep your mind open to new knowledge which can enhance your life and it will also enhance your creativity.
Question your assumptions – A great leader never settles for what they believe in. They always question their assumptions. They don’t take things for granted. They make sure to understand what the facts are and see if they reinterpret the situation in a better light. So, we all need to get into the habit of questioning our world views and assumptions. You should also be prepared to pivot on your decisions based on new information. You can always change your decisions with new information. Ignore the sunk costs by all means.
Broaden your information intake – The shelf life of your knowledge is not more than a year or two. To stay relevant in this era we need to be broadening our information intake. The best part is all the information needed for you to win big is already available. You must keep your antennas up and can curate information to your advantage. Find the experts in your field, connect with them, read their blogs, read their books, listen to their podcasts and share what you learn.
Welcome Feedback – You can develop a growth mindset only when you are open to feedback. We all love positive feedback, but we should also seek out areas of improvement. We all have blind spots and learning where we can improve will ensure our growth is on a great trajectory.
Never be complacent – As they say familiarity breeds contempt. Complacency is what kills organizations and sports teams. We often see sports teams once they win they become complacent and then lose their perch. Always stay open to learning and keep on improving things in your personal and professional lives. Once you have a challenge and meet that challenge then you achieve success. However when a new challenge arises the old method will not work and that’s why you would need a new response for sustained success.
Self-appraisal – This is all about finding the answers to yourself from your own mind. This is a key to developing a growth mindset. While the feedback from others can help us the other way to really improve is to turn on our own ignition. This can be achieved through deep reflection and getting to know yourself from the deepest level. The best way to achieve this is to have a weekly planning session where you assess how the previous week went and document all your learning. After you do that you can plan the next week. Record all your thoughts in a journal and it also increases inner peace.
There you have it the diverse ways you can develop a growth mindset. Thanks for reading this post.
The views expressed in this article are my own and do not represent my organization. Thanks for reading this post.