According to research conducted at Stanford University, people essentially adhere to one of two mindsets—a fixed mindset or a growth mindset. People with a fixed mindset believe their basic qualities, such as intelligence and talents, are fixed traits. Instead of developing their intelligence and talents, they believe their traits alone will lead to success. Brain science has proven them wrong.

People with a growth mindset believe that they can improve their intelligence and talents with effort. By applying themselves, they believe they can get better. They see their brain and talent as just the starting point to build upon with hard work and determination. Brain scans have revealed that effort does lead to growth in intelligence and enhancement of initial talent over time. People with this mindset have a love of learning and demonstrate greater resilience. Success at work—and in life—depends on having a growth mindset.

Mindfulness is about adopting a growth mindset. Mindfulness is about giving attention to the present moment and not judging your innate talent or intelligence but instead being open to new possibilities. When you adopt a growth mindset, you expect and move towards life’s challenges, seeing them as opportunities for inner growth. That’s the essence of mindfulness—believing that you can improve and grow with experience, moving towards challenges, living in the moment, and discovering new things about yourself and others.

4 Steps to adopting a growth mindset

Use the following four steps to develop a growth mindset:

• Listen to the voice of a fixed mindset in your head. This is about being mindful of your thoughts when faced with a challenge. Notice if your fixed thoughts cause you to doubt your talents or intelligence or if you react with anxiety or anger when someone offers you feedback.
• Notice that you have a choice. You can accept those fixed mindset thoughts or question them. Take a few moments to practice a mindful pause.
• Question the fixed mindset attitudes. When your fixed mindset says “What if I fail? I’ll be a failure,” you can ask yourself “Is that true? Most successful people fail. That’s how they learn.” Or if fixed mindset says “What if I can’t do this project? I don’t have the skills,” reply with “Can I be sure I don’t have the skills? In truth, I can only know if I try. And if I don’t have the skills, doing this will help me to learn them.”
• Take action on the growth mindset. This will make you face challenges, seeing them as opportunities to grow rather than avoid. Use the above system if you mind starts leaning towards the fixed mindset.

With time and effort, you can adopt a growth rather instead of a fixed mindset, leading to more success and greater personal fulfillment than ever before.

Activity: Pay attention to your mindset

Reflect on your mindset. Do you have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset? What thoughts do you notice having when you're faced with life's challenges? If you have a fixed mindset, challenging your thinking and take action to learn and grow. 

To learn more about adopting a growth mindset. contact me to schedule a free phone consultation. 

Source: Adapted from an article in Mindful Magazine