As many of you know, I’m a massive fan of Impact Theory and Tom’s deep dive into cultivating a growth mindset.
In his “Strangest Secret” audiotape, Earl Nightingale mentioned that we often become what we think about. And the most important thing that sets successful people apart is a growth mindset.
It is incredible what you can achieve in this lift by simply shifting your outlook on the world. It is easy to blame our failures on exterior forces, but it comes down to how you can overcome the fear that you create yourself.
What is a Growth Mindset?
A growth mindset is a simple realization that your skills, abilities, and understanding about the world’s inner workings can be improved.
Your character and orientation with people and things around you can always be developed into something you desire.
People who live with a growth mindset are confident that they can get smarter, study trends, and become more versatile through effort and time.
What is a Fixed Mindset?
A fixed mindset assumes that your understanding and abilities are stagnant and fixed over time. These people think that intelligence cannot be developed and that you are born with it.
Fixed mindset people are not curious about learning new information or taking on new challenges. This type of outlook holds most people back from realizing real success.
Critical Differences Between Fixed and Growth Mindsets
So, what are the key differences between fixed mindset vs growth mindset people? There are many distinguishing characteristics between these two types of people.
A fixed mindset is one that is in a neutral or static position, while someone possessing a growth mindset looks at how they can improve their mind and ultimately their results. The dividing aspects include:
- Approach toward challenges
- Handling criticism
- Attitude toward the success of others
- Pushing through adversity
- Viewpoint on the concept of lifelong learning
Approach Toward Challenges
Growth mindset people often view challenges as new opportunities. They understand that regardless of whether they succeed or fail, they will take a lesson that can be used as a future advantage.
A person with a fixed mindset will avoid challenges at all costs. They do not see these challenges as necessary parts of life, so they fail to face them head-on.
Handling Criticism
People with a growth mindset are always looking to improve. They recognize that other people can offer crucial feedback, and they know how to filter and translate feedback into meaningful growth accurately.
Fixed mindset people are unable to handle or give feedback. They see criticism as an attack on their character, so they often get defensive with people who are usually trying to help them.
Attitudes Toward the Success of Others
Growth mindset people love to see others succeed. Whenever they see someone reach a goal, it motivates them to do the same. They surround themselves with other successful people to elevate their skills.
The success of others often threatens people with a fixed mindset. Because of this fixed mindset, they tend to get jealous and often put others down, regardless of their success.
Pushing Through Adversity
When the growth mindset people are faced with a setback, they often push through. They understand that these situations make them stronger, so they like to tackle issues with vigor.
Fixed mindset people tend to give up easily without putting in much effort. To them, turning away from a challenge is the more natural way out and allows them to sink back into what life has always been.
Viewpoint on Lifelong Learning
Growth mindset people are naturally curious about their environment. They understand that the world is continuously changing, so they must build up a knowledge base to stay ahead and succeed in life.
People with a fixed mindset believe heavily in the fact that talent and intelligence are static after you are born. They are not interested in learning new things because they think they do not have the capacity.
17 Ways You Can Develop a Growth Mindset
As you can see, the growth mindset people seem to live a much more fulfilled life than fixed mindset people. So, how do you develop this growth mindset?
The fixed mindset vs growth mindset comparison is distinguished by the behaviors described. Implement these tools into your life, and then watch your value increase immensely.
1. Look at Challenges as Key Opportunities
The first strategy to developing a growth mindset is shifting your view toward challenges. We are unable to evolve if we do not get out of our comfort zone.
Challenges are essential development tools because they force us to utilize our skills and capabilities in new ways. When we approach a problem with confidence, we can help hone our skills for similar situations.
2. Do not Put Too Much Value on the Opinions of Others.
It is smart to keep an open mind about feedback, but you should not weigh too much on what others say about you. Often, they do not see the world like you, which makes them unable to relate.
You should be aware of people around you with fixed mindsets. They will often give you the advice to critique you because they feel threatened.
Stay true to who you are and depend less on others for happiness. When you have zero expectations of others and their opinions, you will be a much more motivated and joyful person overall.
3. Enjoy the Process Rather than Focusing on the Result
If you focus too much on the result, you could miss out on the passionate parts that make you great. Life is a journey, so you need to focus on the small habits that lead to success.
A positive attitude about the process is where passion comes from. When you find an activity or venture that you genuinely enjoy doing from beginning to end, focus on building a growth mindset.
4. Look at Your Failures as Critical Lessons
When things do not go your way, and you feel it is easy to get down. You may feel like you are not good enough but see these failures as critical lessons that will prepare you better.
When you view failure as positive, you will approach life with so much more confidence and happiness. You will look forward to taking calculated risks, and you will hit it big here and there because you tried.
5. Celebrate Others’ Success
The more people succeed, the better the world becomes. You should use the success of others as motivation to accomplish your feats.
When you put out positive energy to others who win, it will come back to you. You should surround yourself with successful people because their habits will rub off on to you.
It is essential for you to be happy for others when they succeed because they will return the favor for you. A robust support system will help you and your close friends achieve more in life.
6. Try Different Learning Methods
There is no correct way to digest information. In today’s digital world, there are a multitude of methods for consuming and retaining information.
You should be curious about the different strategies and try new things. If you find an effective learning strategy, double down on that route until it no longer works for you.
7. Set a Plan of Learning
Time is precious, so you want to make sure you budget for your focused learning. The best thing to do is set aside a specific amount of time each day with no study and knowledge distractions.
You can also set short- and long-term learning goals for yourself. These goals could be the number of pages read, mastering a skill, or achieving a numerical level of progress in a sport or game.
8. Develop a Sense of Purpose
What is your “why”? You should find a reason for your lifelong learning when it comes to goal setting and roadmap planning. You should think about how you want to impact yourself, the world, and others.
As you navigate through life and run into roadblocks, you should always refer to your purpose. It should motivate you to push through adversity and continue working toward success.
9. Focus More on Actions, Not Traits
Someone can talk a big game, but what results do they have to back it up? When you create relationships or sell yourself to others, focus on results and actions, rather than preliminary characteristics.
When you encourage others, comment on a specific accomplishment. Rather than complimenting someone for being smart, you should highlight behavior that makes them more intelligent.
10. Put Effort before Talent
Growth mindset people believe that effort and efficiency take you much further in life than talent. When you have talent, you may have a head start. But the initiative will help you win the game of life.
Reward yourself and others for putting in hard work. Stay away from placing importance for already-existing talent, but rather push others to raise their ceiling.
11. Practice What You Learn Throughout the Day
This strategy is a fun one because you get to put it into practice. As you learn a new concept in your study time, you should pick out specific situations where you can apply it.
Reading is one thing, but it takes a growth mindset person to execute and learn from their failures and successes. By putting your knowledge into practice, you can speed up your growth and development.
12. Take Care of Your Health
You must master private victory before going out into the world and experiencing public triumph. This journey all starts with a healthy mind and body.
Just like you set aside time for learning and study, you should also budget time to lift weights, run, and practice sport. By supporting your muscles with blood flow, your brain will function better overall.
13. Journal About Your Progress
It is useful to update others on your goals, but you should also document your development through a journal. You can gain clarity about your motivations and approach to life by writing out your thoughts on paper.
You can write about whatever pops into your head. It is beneficial to reflect on your failures, struggles, and any specific events in your day that pushed you to improve.
14. Take Calculated Risks
You cannot evolve in life without pushing the envelope and trying new things. If you always stick to what you know, you cannot develop your current skills or gain new ones.
Whenever you endure these risks, you should be sure to evaluate the different opportunities, drawbacks, and other obstacles that could hinder your success. Be quick with your actions, but do not hurry.
15. Learn from Other People’s Mistakes
You should always be a student of yourself, but it is also wise to learn from others’ failures. By observing how others struggle with a challenge, you can learn how to navigate issues when you push through.
16. Learn from Other People’s Successes
Other people’s successes can also serve as a valuable guide for your roadmap. You should find people who have succeeded in a similar field or skill and then study their actions.
Everyone’s recipe for success is different, but you should take small principles and practices from others and integrate them into your own. Put your unique twist on the successful habits of others.
17. Recognize that Time is Far More Valuable than Money
It is easy to observe the lavish life of “rich” people on social media. Therefore, we tend to utilize money as a driving factor.
But it is important to reframe your mindset to make the most of your available time. The more you learn, the more effective and smarter you can be with your time to create more wealth.
When you look at the value of your life through a time lens, you can focus more on your passions, which will make you the money in the long run.
Conclusion: Why is having a growth mindset necessary?
When you are continually developing a growth mindset, you are showing up for life in the right way. By striving to become the best version of yourself, you create more happiness and value for others.
You can create other leaders and growth mindset people by serving as a positive role model. Not only will you feel better about yourself, but you will accomplish more by looking at life as an evolving opportunity.
So, do you want to take the next step in your life success journey? Start implementing a few of these items on the list, document your progress, and translate your passions into gifts.
You can put yourself on the right side of the fixed mindset vs growth mindset comparison. It all starts with the belief in yourself that you can evolve.
