What Is Mindset & Why Is It Important?
What Is Mindset?
Your mindset is a set of beliefs about your own abilities and potential, which shapes how you perceive the world and yourself.
Fixed Mindset vs. Growth Mindset
You may have heard people talk about fixed mindsets and growth mindsets. They are terms coined by psychologist Carol Dweck who wrote Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. She examined the power of our conscious and unconscious beliefs and how changing them, even in small and simple ways, can have a profound impact on nearly every aspect of our lives.
Fixed Mindset Beliefs
Your character, talents, intelligence, and creative ability are fixed.
You can't change in any meaningful way.
Success is how your innate qualities measure up against a set standard.
Growth Mindset Beliefs
Your character, talents, intelligence, and creative ability are fluid.
You can nurture and improve these qualities through practice and experience.
Failure is a jumping-off point for growth.
How Your Mindset Is Formed
Your mindset is created and begins developing in early childhood. One of the biggest takeaways of Carol Dweck's research is the importance of process praise over personal praise, particularly with children. By focusing on the process, children can develop a healthy relationship with achievement.
But, remember, the fact that your mindset was first formed during childhood does not mean that it can't be developed or change. That's what mindset work is all about!
The Impact of Mindset
All of this is important because your belief systems about your own abilities and potential (a.k.a. your mindset) is the root of most of your behavior and your relationship with success.
Fixed Mindset
With a Fixed Mindset, you strive for success and avoid failure at all costs. Believing that your qualities are predetermined and cannot change creates an urgent need to prove yourself again and again. This is because, if you're limited to a certain personality, amount of intelligence, or set of talents, you need to prove that you have enough of each one. You don't want to look or feel like you're lacking in those basic qualities.
Growth Mindset
With a Growth Mindset, you have a passion for learning rather than a hunger for approval. Believing that qualities like intelligence and creativity, and even capacities like love and friendship, can be nurtured and grown through effort and intentional practice means that you're more likely to persevere when you encounter obstacles. You aren't discouraged by failure because you don't see yourself as failing. You see it as learning.
Want to learn more? Checkout the free Mindset Essentials workshop!
Mindset Essentials: How To Overcome Adulting Roadblocks
In this 1-hour workshop, you’ll learn adulting skills you were never taught at school, focusing specifically on mindset: using your brain to help you live the life of your dreams. It's co-hosted by my friend and fellow coach Swati Hegde @yourcoachswati
In this beginner-friendly workshop you will…
👉🏿 Be given real-world scenarios
👉🏻 See how a Coach would work with you in that situation
👉🏽 Get actionable tips you can implement right now
