Hello Muser!

Today, I'm going to pull back the curtain on a little something that's had a big impact on my life and could do the same for yours: the difference between a 'growth mindset' and a 'fixed mindset'!

What Is A Growth Mindset?

If you haven't heard of the term, a 'growth mindset' is a psychological concept initially developed by psychologist Carol Dweck. At its core, it is the belief that skills and intelligence can be developed and improved over time. It's the idea that learning is a lifelong journey, not a destination. It's about saying, "I don't understand...yet," rather than simply stating, "I don't understand."

Put another way, you can change. You, and I, have the capability to change ourselves, to improve our skills, our thoughts, and our physical and emotional state. A growth mindset allows you to see all the possibilities the future can hold because you get to choose what to work on.

What Is A Fixed Mindset?

The opposite of a growth mindset is what's termed a 'fixed mindset.' It's the belief that our abilities are innate and unchangeable. When faced with challenges, someone with a fixed mindset will say, "I'm just not good at this" and avoid any future attempts. Worse yet, the tendency of this type of person is to think "I don't know how to do this, so I must not have been born with it. I shouldn't even bother starting at all!"

Why Does This Matter To Me?

I can't tell which mindset you're currently in. All the studies also point out that most people are a mix of both. In some areas, you'll have a fixed mindset, that doesn't even question the fact that there's "no room for improvement" or "that's not me". In others, you're confident that with enough effort and persistence, you can overcome any challenge.

I can't tell you why these concepts matter to you, but I can tell you why they matter to me.

Fixed From The Beginning

I was one of those "gifted kids" from a young age. School work came easily, high scores on all the standardized tests in public school in NYC. Never had to study for any classwork until about 8th grade. All that time as a youngster, I had adults praising me for "being smart". What I didn't hear very often was "You work so hard!" or any praise to that effect.

Naturally, with the maturity of an 8-year-old, I concluded that I was smart, and I never had to try, so that was just how the world worked. Some people were smart (me) and others were not (but that was ok too) as long it wasn't ME that wasn't smart (the adults had told me so). So when 8th grade came around and schoolwork got harder, I started to question how smart I was.

Maybe I wasn't as intelligent as I'd been told. Maybe I had been lied to, or unintentionally deceived, and I was actually one of the not-smart people! But the conundrum was that I had a reputation to uphold, as a smart-person. So what would any reasonable human do in this situation?

I started to hedge my bets.

Oh, I worked plenty hard! All through high school, I studied, did homework in every free moment, carried all my textbooks with me to enable that, stole leisure at every opportunity to rest my weary soul! But it was always chasing that belief that this should be natural; that every ounce of effort exerted was merely to catch up to the person that I always should have been in the first place!

But "hedging my bets" meant not taking risks. Don't do anything that would jeopardize my grades because that was my identity. Failure at a task meant I was a failure so you only do mandatory tasks with high likelihoods of success. Trying new things is a surefire way to possibly fail, after all!

Enjoyed this post? I'll share more about my shift from a fixed mindset to a growth one in my next email! It didn't happen overnight, but it did happen. And it changed everything for me. I'll also share some books that helped me along the way. They might just help you too. Subscribe now and share with your colleagues who might find this useful!

Have any questions or experiences to share about a growth mindset? Leave a comment below. I'd love to hear from you!

Onwards and upwards!

Darrell