Health & Wellness Mindset By Chris Akins / 5 years ago Many of the people I work with in therapy and in coachingstruggle with doubt about their ability to learn different skills or differentways of doing things. Some think theyare not smart enough, or capable enough to grow into the person they feel theyneed to become to be successful. Haveyou ever felt that way about yourself? If you have, there is great news! You can do it! That’s wheremindset comes in. Your mindset is a big influence on how you experienceyour life. With the right mindset you canbe more creative in solving problems and more resilient when faced with difficultchallenges. You will be less concernedwith how other people view you and more confident in your owncapabilities. In short, you will be ableto grow into the best person you can be and have a more successful andsatisfying life. What is mindset? Why is it that certain students, athletes, or businesspeoplewho have all the tools sometimes do not excel, while others who seem tostruggle ultimately find success? Shouldn’t those who are born with naturaltalents always outperform those who are not? These are important questions forparents, coaches, teachers, and leaders. In this post we will explore what it takes to succeed, even when you maynot have the natural talent or experiences to do so. Dr. Carol Dweck, author of groundbreaking studies on human motivation and success, describes mindset as a person’s beliefs in their basic abilities and their capacity to develop new abilities through hard work and dedication. Mindset theory is also tied into what psychologists call intrinsic motivation, which is a person’s inner drive to succeed. Mindset is a crucial factor in any person’s success, regardless of talent, intelligence, or natural ability. What are the types of mindsets? A key part of mindset is how you cope with failure. In one of her earlier studies Dr. Dweckconducted an experiment with school age children to see how they dealt withhard problems. She gave the class a seriesof exercises to see how they went about solving them, and more importantly, howthey reacted to the one’s they had problems with. She noticed that some of the kids seemeddefeated and gave up when they could not easily solve the problems, whileothers seemed to enjoy the hard work. Whenstruggling with a hard problem, one 10-year-old looked up with excitementexclaiming, “I love a challenge!” What was the difference between those that became frustratedand overwhelmed by the hard problems, and those that seemed to enjoy them? It was mindset. In her mindset theory, Dr. Dweck identifiedtwo basic mindsets that play a significant role in success or failure: growth mindset and fixed mindset. Those children who became frustrated and gave up wereexhibiting a fixed mindset. Peoplewith a fixed mindset view failure or struggle as a sign that they are not smartenough. They believe that human qualities,like intelligence or natural talent, are fixed and do not change. You are born with them. Either you are smart, or you are not. You can do something, or you cannot. They do not believe that they can learn toget better at difficult things or develop new talents and skills. People with a fixed mindset view difficulttasks as chores and may give up easily. Other children in Dr. Dweck’s experiment seemed to relishthe challenge of working the difficult problems. These children exhibited a growth mindset. People with a growth mindset believe thatthey can get better at difficult things. They do not view their attributes as being fixed at birth. They understand that with commitment and hardwork they can become smarter, learn new skills, and develop new capabilities. Theytend to look at challenges as opportunities to grow, and typically do not giveup or get easily frustrated with difficult tasks. Why mindset matters Dr. Dweck’s research found that mindset matters a lot inpredicting success. They determine howpeople cope with life’s challenges. People with growth mindsets tend to be more resilientin the face of setbacks and difficult challenges. They are more likely to persevere and drivethrough life’s challenges. They are morecreative problem solvers. People withgrowth mindsets also tend be more intrinsically motivated to accomplish theirgoals. When people with growth mindsetstry and fail, they view their failures as learning experiences and opportunitiesfor growth. Fixed mindsets are more likely to become frustrated and giveup when they face adversity. They tend to seek approval from others. As Dr. Dweck points out in her book Mindset,they tend to be driven by the need to prove themselves to others. They are consumed with concerns over how othersview them. Will I look smart or stupid? Will I succeed or fail? Will I be accepted or rejected? Will others think I am good enough? Growth mindsets do not rely as much on theapproval of others to determine their progress or self-worth. They are confident in themselves and self-affirming. What is your mindset? What mindset do you have? Do you have a growth mindset, or a fixed mindset? Read the following questions and decide whichyou most strongly agree with. No matter how much intelligence you have, youcan change it a great deal. You can learn new things, but you cannot reallychange your intelligence much I prefer work that is challenging and makes methink hard. I prefer work that I can do really well withouttrying too hard. I prefer work that I can learn from even if Imake mistakes. I prefer work that I can do perfectly withoutmaking any mistakes. When something is too hard, it just makes mewant to work harder. When something is too hard, it makes me feel likeI’m not very smart. If you mostly answered questions 1, 3, 5, 7 “Yes,” then you may have a growth mindset. If you answered questions 2, 4, 6, 8 mostly “Yes” then you tend towards a more fixed mindset. Keep in mind that most of us have a mix of growth and fixed mindset traits. But those that tend more towards growth mindsets typically view challenges as opportunities for learning. If you want to take a validated mindset assessment to get a better idea of your mindset you can find one, here. How can you develop a growth mindset? Mindsets are developed in early childhood. Kids with fixed mindsets are often taughtthat failure is embarrassing and bad. They are taught to focus on being smart instead of being taught to enjoythe process of growing. They are taughtto fear failure, as it is a sign that they are not living up toexpectations. On the other hand, kidswith growth mindsets are more likely to have been taught that learning is fun,and that failure is a part of learning. They embrace new and challenging experiences without fear of being embarrassedby failure. They are more likely to enjoychallenges and be more willing to take risks to learn new things. Although our mindsets are developed from childhood it isstill possible to change them as we grow. Perhaps the first step is learning to focus on the process of learning insteadof the outcome. For instance, whenfacing a difficult challenge at work or a difficult life problem focus less onthe outcomes and more on how you go about finding the solution. Approaching problems and difficult situationswith sense of curiosity and adventure is another way of fostering a growthmindset. Doing so keeps our mind on thejourney, instead of on the outcomes. Andfinally, practicing nonjudgment and self-compassion may help you create amindset that views setbacks and failures as opportunities for learning andgrowth.
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