Morning habits that changed my life

In this article, I will share with you some examples to show the difference between fixed and growth mindsets.

  these concepts came from carol S.Dwack from her book “ mindset the new psychology of success”

She presents the difference between the two as follows.

People with a fixed mindset, always, believe that their personal characteristics like intelligence and skills can never be changed. People with a growth mindset, believe they can develop any personal quality or ability with enough persistence at any time.

the real world shows a few examples of how a growth mindset differs from a fixed mindset:

1/ Intelligence:

Dweck found that the view of people on where intelligence comes from affects their motivation to learn.

People with a fixed mindset believes their intelligence was born with them. if not they cannot develop it.

People with a growth mindset sees that experience helps in gaining intelligence, so they frequently challenge themselves to learn new things.

Imagine your boss forced you to learn a new software program for a project.

Growth mindset 

“Sure I can take this new challenge. I’ve learned new software systems in the past, I’ll learn as I go and will then be able to teach others “.

Fixed mindset 

“ hold on, I am sure my boss clearly meant to request someone else, I’ve never heard of this software and I’ve never done this project before, so I can’t do this “.

2/ Goals :

Do you focus more on the process, or on the final goal?

A growth mindset person does his/her best in order to not let obstacles get in the way, He/she finds ways to work around them and only worries about the things that are within his/her control.

Whereas, Fixed mindset people are only motivated by external factors, their desire is to get to the end as quickly as possible and don’t really care about the process.

Growth mindset: 

Reaching my goal requires a lot of progress so I’ve got a long way to go to get there...

I will dedicate myself to the process so I can achieve my goal.

Fixed mindset: 

I don’t really care how to get there, all I want is to make it to the end I may need to cut some corners along the way but I am not really passionate about this goal, so I don’t mind.

3/ Other people’s success:

How do you feel when you see other people's success? Do you feel inspired to do the same or do you feel resentful because there is only but so much room at the top?

Let’s say there is someone at work that gained recognition for a recent project that improved the efficiency of a common process in the office. This made everyone’s life easier even your own, and a lot of talks have been surrounding the win ever since. what do you feel?

Growth mindset:

Great, because a once arduous task that took up a lot of your time has now become quick and simple. I am thankful for my co-worker’s effort.

Fixed mindset:

 People should get over it, It is not that big deal. they forget about the issue I've fixed a few months ago.

4/ Feedback:

People with a fixed mindset hate feedbacks because they are obliged to open themselves to potentially negative comments.

On the other hand people with a growth mindset are open to feedback because they see it as an opportunity to learn and to improve themselves.

For instance, a friend gave you negative feedback of a habit that annoys him

Growth mindset:

You would consider the facts behind this feedback and look at it objectively. You recognize that you care for your friend and you want him/her to feel comfortable around you. So you graciously accept the feedback.

fixed mindset:

you feel defeated from this feedback thinking that your friend doesn’t like you.

5/Failure:

A fixed mindset people  allow themselves to be defined by failure, they feel that everyone is either naturally skilled or will never have skills.

They think why should I waste my time trying to do things that I’ll never be able to learn

Example: baking sourdough bread is tough because it requires a lot of trial and error, patience and the ability to  overcome challenges

Growth mindset:

it ok everyone fails at this, there is a learning curve  and a lot of variables that go into making a Successful sourdough starter this is just a temporary setback and I’ll get there.

fixed mindset:

this is pointless and a waste of time. My sourdough bread are complete flops and I’ll never master this skill.

6/Change:

It is inevitable, as technology expands, industries will change and your way of life will constantly evolve, and if you want to keep up with society, you have to learn to embrace change.

How to react to change?

Growth mindset:

“I welcome change, I enjoy the  challenge of learning the new things so much that I am hoping to be an active part of this change.

fixed mindset:

why change anything? everything we do right now is working just fine like it always has.

7/ Efforts:

If you really want to achieve a goal, then you need to be willing to give it your all and work hard for it.

When it come to the amount of effort let’s see how the two mindsets would view it.

Growth mindset:

You are willing to put an effort toward learning and growing because you are confident that you can. You see endless opportunities for growth.

fixed mindset:

do you have to?  You don’t have much hope for your future in this subject and frankly you don’t really care.

8/ Confidence:

if you have a fixed mindset you will always trying to prove to people and to yourself that your current skill level is enough otherwise you’ll be seen as being inadequate and there is nothing to do to change that.

However, with a growth mindset, your confidence comes within and you usually don’t need outside validation. you know your strength and where you have room for improvement and you see yourself as a constant  work in progress.

Growth mindset:

I am confident in my ability to learn and become the best version of myself. I know I will always have some areas in my life that could use some improvement.

fixed mindset:

I am not confident in myself, because i know lots of people who are smarter, more talented, and more skilled than I am.

9/ Attitude towards learning:

According to Carol Dweck “the belief  that cherished qualities can be developed creates a passion for learning” so how the two mindsets  view learning and self-education?

Growth mindset:

I’ll take this opportunity to learn something, I don’t know much about the topic and have never been interested in it, I may uncover a new passion or develop a new skill

fixed mindset:

I am not interested in art  and I’m not good at it, I’m also not creative, so why the waste of time

 

you can choose to adopt a growth mindset at any time and after seeing these examples, hopefully, you’ll change yourself to adapt a growth mindset  throughout your life

if you want to learn more, you can take a look at the strategies for a growth mindset