I just finished reading Mindset by Carol Dweck. It had been recommended to me time and again but for some reason it took me awhile to pick it up and finally read it. Thankfully, it did not disappoint! In the book, Dr. Dweck shares her lifelong research as well as practical tips regarding the two predominating mindsets, the fixed and the growth mindset.

I definitely gained a lot of insight from the book and it generated a lot of thought. It’s a very foundational piece to understand and grasp in building a healthy mindset overall. No matter who you are or in what stage of life you are.

What is a fixed mindset?

According to Dweck, a fixed mindset is, in essence, a mindset in which we believe every person has a fixed level of ability or capability.

So, for instance, you and I are each born with a fixed ability when it comes to math. It is up to us to reach our maximum capacity. However, if your capacity is greater than mine, you will just always be better at math than me so long as we both reach our fixed potential.

But this doesn’t just need to apply to school subjects. We can have a fixed mindset in regards to our social abilities, in relationships, with our kids, or in any other aspect of life.

And a fixed mindset makes us feel as though we are constantly at need of proving ourselves as the haves or the have nots in life. This can lead to a lot of bad behaviors as we fear we might actually be a have not while trying to act like a have.

What is a growth mindset?

The growth mindset is kind of the opposite of this. The growth mindset is a mindset in which we believe that we are all capable of improving in various aspects of our life. We are not born good or bad at math. But we all have the inherent ability to learn, improve, and get better at things.

The growth mindset doesn’t necessarily mean that any of us can be anything that we want in the world. I will never in the NBA. But it does mean that we can expand our skills beyond where they currently are, pretty much indefinitely.

With a growth mindset, we don’t need to worry about being a have or a have not. Mistakes no longer are bad. Everything is a learning process. And we are just on our own path, knowing that we can get to the finish line with hard work and perseverance.

So, which mindset is better?

Well, it’s probably not surprising that the growth mindset leads to improved outcomes and results in a wide variety of areas of life.

Work.
Home.
Relationships.
Parenting.
Coaching.
Teaching.
Sports.

So, how can we grow a growth mindset?

First, it’s important to recognize that no one has a perfect growth mindset around every aspect of life. It is all a constant work in progress. It’s not only possible but probably that we all hold a growth mindset for some things in our lives and a fixed mindset in others.

For instance, for the longest time, I held a healthy growth mindset when it came to my abilities as a doctor but a very fixed and limited mindset about my ability to manage money successfully.

To grow a more healthy growth mindset in any area of life, according to Dweck, we need to begin to prioritize the process over the results. We are not supposed to be experts at anything right from the beginning; that is the fallacy of the fixed mindset. Instead, mistakes are part of the process. Doing things because they are fun is the point instead of worrying about the outcome every time. And a failure is not the end of the line. It doesn’t define you as a have or have not. Instead, it becomes an opportunity to improve.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy

Because it’s not.

We grow our mindsets from a very young age. In fact, one of the most impactful parts of the book for me was learning how to help foster a growth mindset in my kids. I learned that even though I am very “mindset” conscious in general, I was not doing a good job fostering a growth mindset in my 3 kids!

This all takes work. And effort. But, the good thing is that if we can work to enjoy the process, the results will come of their own accord without us needing to focus on it.

I encourage you to join me on the journey!

Here are some other great posts for you to build up you mindset:

• Converting a Healthy Money Mindset into Wealth Building Action
• Sorta Random Sunday: Your Mindset Makes Your Success
• Sorta Random Sunday: Is Genius Born or Made?
• Sorta Random Sunday: The Important Difference Between You & Mozart

What do you think? Do you have a growth or fixed mindset? In what aspects of life are you more growth than fixed? And vice versa? Let me know in the comments below!