Movement Formula Blog | What Are The Two Types Of Mindsets?

Growth Vs Fixed Mindset

Do you believe that people are born with or without talent and that's just how the world works? Or do you believe that with the right amount of effort we can do anything? The difference between these two beliefs is whether you have a fixed or growth mindset.

This can affect our lives in so many ways. The crazy thing is you can have either mindset depending on the circumstances or how you are feeling on a particular day.

Let's go over the differences between a growth and fixed mindset and how with a little bit of focus we can take ourselves from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and improve our lives in so many ways. More than we can even imagine.

Fixed Mindset Characteristics:

Avoids opportunities from the fear of failure
Avoids conflicts
Believe talent and intelligence are fixed traits you are born with and these are responsible for success- you either got it or you don’t
Take criticism personal
Failure is permanent
Choose easier tasks and put in minimal effort
Focus on performance and outcome rather than see their growth in the process

On the other hand, let's look at the Characteristics of a Growth Mindset:

Embraces opportunities to learn and grow
Believe new traits can be developed
Have a love for learning
You can learn anything if you want to
Sees problems as interesting challenges
Persist when things are difficult
Failure is a chance to improve
Focus on the process of getting better and growing

We can often switch from one to the other or bounce in between the two types quite frequently. You are not just one or the other. In different situations, on different days you might be one or the other.

The important thing here is to recognize when you are leaning more towards the fixed mindset. When we identify/recognize that this is happening we can then open our minds to the possibilities that we can grow from our failures as long as we keep pushing forward.

So how do we move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset?

I have to say that its a lot easier to say- harder to do

To gain a stronger growth mindset- or to tip the scales towards a growth mindset we need to do the following:

1- Recognize your fixed mindset tendencies. By switching how we view or perceive a situation can result in a world of difference.

2- Focus on the belief that we can improve with time and that mistakes are part of the growing process. This will help to push us closer into the growth mindset side of things.

3- It's very important for us to celebrate the fact that we are willing to try new things. Not everyone is willing to do this.

There are four ingredients to our growth: Effort, challenges, mistakes, and feedback.

Effort- is part of the journey to an exciting life.

Challenges- Keep in mind that challenges and obstacles are what give us the chance to learn and grow.

Mistakes- Failing is part of learning. Reminding ourselves that getting something wrong or not excelling right off the bat is not a sign of failure- everyone fails. It’s just a minor setback and we will get there. It’s just a learning experience. It’s not impossible- it's just new. Mistakes are hard. They are embarrassing in the moment, but not getting stuck there is imperative for us to keep pushing forward.

Feedback - Focus on getting better and knowing that feedback will help you grow and we have the capacity to do so. We need to always ask ourselves, "What went wrong and where can I improve?"