Why do Mindsets Matter?

Hey guys, I’m back! It’s been a little while but sometimes breaks are good and allow you to refocus and hone in on what you want to talk about and push to your audience. I’ve found myself focusing on my mindset over the last week and how external factors can affect our moods and mindsets. 

I’ve come to the conclusion that the mindset we enter a day / week / month / season really does matter and can have a drastic effect on your end goals.  They say you are what you think but what does that really mean? Your mindset plays a critical role in how you cope with life's challenges. Let’s take the well discussed “Growth Mindset.” In school, a growth mindset can contribute to greater achievement and increased effort. When facing a problem such as trying to find a new job, people with growth mindsets show greater resilience. They are more likely to persevere in the face of setbacks while those with fixed mindsets are more liable to give up.

Carol Dweck, a young researcher in psychology, was similarly fascinated by the question of what motivates us to succeed. Conventional wisdom during the 1970s reflected a straightforward relationship between praise and self-esteem: developing self-confidence in children can be achieved by regular praise and reminders of innate talents. If you wanted to grow inner confidence, reminders of one’s own special qualities and talents would be key. Eventually, the messages would sink in, and result in self-belief and success.

Based on her research, Dweck divided people into two categories: the first, with what she called a “fixed” mindset, tend to believe their basic attributes, like intelligence and talent, are innate and set in stone. By contrast, people who exhibit a “growth” mindset tend to understand basic abilities as malleable, and believe they can be developed over time. Dweck devised questionnaires to further test which mindset might be associated with which real-life outcomes. Over and over again, Dweck’s experiments showed a striking divide. People with a “fixed” mindset avoided difficult tasks, fearing that failure might expose a lack in ability. Meanwhile, people with a “growth” mindset loved new challenges and viewed setbacks as opportunities to learn.

Unsurprisingly, people with a “growth” mindset displayed better self-esteem, more resilience, and enjoyed better outcomes in life. So from here you can probably put yourself into one of the two categories and if you find you’re not happy with the category your current mindset sets you in then here are some tangible steps to change your mindset -  1. Observe your mindset. You can’t begin to change a “fixed” mindset until you recognize it. Notice if you rush to conclusions about fundamental abilities. Do you tell yourself that you’re no good at a particular task, so there’s no point attempting it? Do you believe that success in certain kinds of activities—whether it’s in music, sports, or creative fields—are reserved for people who are naturally gifted? Do you worry that if you try your hardest and fail at something, you’ll be exposed as “no good”? 2. Challenge your beliefs. Now that you’ve begun to recognize the symptoms of a “fixed” mindset, you can begin to cultivate a “growth” mindset instead. If a task doesn’t come easily, remind yourself that it isn’t a reflection of your inherent worth, but instead an opportunity to learn and improve. Remember the kids who took that math test: encourage yourself in the same way, by focusing on effort rather than quick success. Good news: it’s possible to notice the effects of a change in mindset quickly: research shows that considering a growth mindset for a few moments before starting a task can improve performance. 3. Build a “growth” muscle. Neuroscientists have found a circuit in the brain that governs persistence in the face of difficulty. When there’s a lack of immediate reward, it switches on, effectively telling us: “Don’t give up! There’s a reward (in the form of dopamine) on the way!” For some, this circuit hardly functions at all, so challenges arise, they can be more likely to give up. If—like me—you suspect you may have this tendency, you can begin to change your brain’s wiring by slowly teaching it that hard work and resilience pay. Rather than seek out opportunities to repeatedly prove your abilities, look for challenges that may encourage learning and growth. Start small, like someone building a muscle in the gym. When you encounter difficulties: great (muscles also undergo breakage and tearing before growth). Look for these opportunities to practice perseverance and learn from mistakes. Over time, a “growth” mindset can become an unconscious response. With all this in mind, don’t feel as though changing your mindset can be done overnight. This is a process and can take as long as it needs. As always, I feel some reading materials are always helpful and to give some food for thought. Here are my three favourite mindset thought provoking books;  Mindset: How You Can Fulfil Your Potential Paperback – 2 Feb. 2012 by Carol Dweck (Author) Can buy here Shoe Dog: A Memoir by the Creator of NIKE Paperback – 3 May 2018 by Phil Knight  (Author) Can buy here The 5 AM Club Paperback – 6 Dec. 2018 by Robin Sharma (Author) Can buy here  Thanks for reading,

Carmen