Difference between and fixed and growth mindset
During my research and applying some of the tools to my daily routine, I have read many articles on the concept of fixed mindset and growth mindset and how we can use the power of our mind and to set and achieve goals. I would highly recommend the book “Mindset - changing the way you think to achieve your potential” by Dr Carol S, Dweck.
It is a very interesting subject and how we can train the mind to support our growth in relationships, career, parenthood, health, fitness or financial goals.
I have created the below diagram to provide an example of a growth mindset for our health and fitness goals.
A growth mindset is a belief system that suggests individuals can develop and improve their abilities, skills, and intelligence through dedication, effort, and learning. People with a growth mindset tend to embrace challenges, persevere in the face of setbacks, and see failures as opportunities for learning and growth.
In contrast, a "fixed mindset" is the belief that abilities and traits are largely innate and unchangeable. Individuals with a fixed mindset might avoid challenges to avoid failure, and they might interpret failures as reflections of their inherent limitations.
The idea of a growth mindset has been widely discussed in education, personal development, and organizational psychology. It emphasizes the importance of effort, continuous learning, and resilience in achieving success. Encouraging a growth mindset can lead to increased motivation, better learning outcomes, and improved performance in various areas of life.
How to apply a growth mindset?
Firstly in my experience , don’t beat yourself up if you feel you are stuck with a fixed mindset as it can be linked to our environment, our childhood or our general experiences in life. For example, I have already mentioned that I was the first person in my family to attend university but I did have family members say to me “ University is not for working class people like us, why don’t you get a trade and work on a building site?”. Now there is nothing wrong with getting a trade and in fact it is a great career and as I write this article electricians and plumbers in the UK are in huge demand!. However, it is an example of a fixed mindset but luckily my parents and teachers encouraged me to study and apply for university and I knew I had the ability. On reflection, it was an example of a growth mindset, yes I was anxious but I had to push myself out of my comfort zone and take the opportunity to grow as a person and provide opportunities.
Another example from my career relates to the opportunity to work in Malaysia for 5 weeks as we migrated our operations team from London to Malaysia. This was a particularly tough time as we were all on notice of redundancy as 80% of the operations was moving offshore to cut costs. A number of the team were asked to work in Kuala Lumper for 5 weeks and the human nature and fixed mindset created statements like “ What is in it for me?”, “Why should I coach people to take my job?”, “I have never worked abroad before”. These are all human responses to a difficult period. However, I discussed with my wife and we looked at the positive/ growth mindset. A great opportunity to experience working in a different county and culture. Great skill to add to my CV/resume of migrating and building a new team in a greenfield location. Opportunity to explore Malaysia and South East Asia at the weekends. Push myself out of my comfort zone and grow as an individual and leader/manager.
On reflection, I am so happy that I took the opportunity and I would like to thank from amazing wife for being so supportive and looking after our 2 children (Both under the age of 12) during this period.
The team in Malaysia were amazingly supportive and I learned so much about the culture of Malaysia and South East Asia and by default I became an expert in creating new teams in global offshore locations and subsequently expanded my role into creating new teams in Manila/ Philippines and Delhi. Pune and Bangalore in India.
The above are some personal examples but I have broken down some steps below on how to implement a growth mindset and remember it is perfectly fine to have a fixed mindset in some aspects of your life but if you want to make change then focusing on a growth mindset will really help to achieve your goals.
Acknowledge Your Current Mindset: Reflect on whether you lean more towards a fixed mindset or a growth mindset in various aspects of your life. Identifying areas where you might have a fixed mindset will be the first step in changing those beliefs.
Embrace Challenges: Embrace new challenges and tasks, even if they seem difficult at first. Instead of avoiding them out of fear of failure, see them as opportunities for learning and growth.
View Effort as the Path to Mastery: Understand that effort is a necessary part of improvement. Instead of believing that your abilities are fixed, recognize that dedicated effort and practice can lead to mastery over time.
Persist in the Face of Setbacks: When you encounter obstacles or failures, don't give up. Instead, see setbacks as valuable learning experiences that can provide insights for future improvement.
Learn from Criticism: Rather than taking criticism personally and defensively, use it as constructive feedback to identify areas where you can grow and develop.
Change Your Self-Talk: Pay attention to your inner dialogue and self-talk. Replace negative self-talk that reinforces a fixed mindset with positive and growth-oriented statements.
Celebrate Others' Successes: Instead of feeling threatened by others' successes, celebrate them. This helps you foster a mindset that values learning from others and seeing their achievements as opportunities to learn.
Seek Out Learning Opportunities: Continuously seek out opportunities for learning and skill development. This could include taking courses, reading books, attending workshops, or engaging in activities that challenge you. Please see my list of books that have helped me on my health and fitness journey.
Set Goals: Set specific, achievable goals that require effort and growth to accomplish. Break these goals down into smaller steps, and track your progress along the way. It is important to set small goals, we live in a society at present were we expect quick changes. For example, it took me 12 months to hit my target weight.
Remember that Abilities Can Be Developed: Keep reminding yourself that your abilities and intelligence are not fixed traits. With dedication, practice, and learning, you can improve and develop new skills over time. I strongly believe that strength training is important for our fitness goals and you can read more in my article but I did not understand how to use free weights and I have used books, videos and the gym coach to slowly improve my knowledge
Model a Growth Mindset: Surround yourself with individuals who have a growth mindset. Their attitudes and behaviours can inspire and reinforce your own efforts to develop a growth mindset. This is a very important point and really communicate to your friends and family on your goals and find like minded people who can support you. This is one of the objectives of this project that we can create a community and learn from each other and if you would like to contribute an article or video please visit the contributors page.
Be Patient with Yourself: Cultivating a growth mindset takes time and effort. Be patient and kind to yourself as you work on changing your beliefs and behaviours. This is a really important point and this is why I encourage everyone to purchase a small journal and capture your daily, weekly and monthly goals. You will be very surprised on how writing goals can really motivate you but you can also see the progress.
Remember that developing a growth mindset is an ongoing process. It requires self-awareness, self-reflection, and a willingness to challenge and change your existing beliefs. Over time, these efforts can lead to a more positive, resilient, and growth-oriented outlook on life.
Feedback from social media
This blog has resonated with many people on social media but a recurring theme has been how people feel stuck in their fixed mindset and the common question is “How do I start?”, “ I am scared that people will laugh at me”, “ I was born to be unfit and overweight”, etc.
Don’t worry these are all common and human reactions to change and it will take small and consistent steps to make changes. Please look at the image below and be honest and think of words to describe the image. What words come to your mind ?
I have asked people the above question during my coaching sessions and society will always provide “Fixed mindset” answers such as Obese, fat, lazy, unfit, too large to be cycling, overweight etc.
However, let us think from a growth mindset perspective and positive language. He is determined, inspirational, happy, starting his health and fitness journey, learning a new skill, enjoying fresh air and nature, socializing with friends, exercising and improving his overall health and fitness.
You can apply the same Growth mindset to any new skill, hobby or fitness goal that you would like to set and I might sound repetitive but please use a journal and write down your goals and split the page into two columns and write down your fixed mindset thoughts on the left hand side and then your growth mindset language on the right hand side.
For some inspiration please read my article the benefits of cycling and my own experience of learning a new skills, falling over and just learning from friends and the community. This is the ethos of the project and how we can be inspired by the community and be inspired to try new skills and hobbies.