Mindset training is an especially important part of a continued path of personal development. The concept of mindset is an individual's self-theory.
Simply a set of thoughts that you believe to be true about yourself. In her book Mindset, Dr. Carol Dweck outlines the two distinctive mindsets she has discovered over her three-decade escapade of studying how people learn.
She discovered what is now coined as the Growth Mindset. Its opposite is the self-explanatory fixed mindset.
What is a growth mindset?
There is no doubt that success in life can be highly attributed to the growth mindset. The growth mindset is that you believe that you as an individual could be better at whatever it is you choose.
You do not have a fixed view of your abilities or your learning capability. Unfortunately, not all of us have this type of mindset, the beauty is that this mindset is one which can be learned.
A straightforward way of figuring out whether you demonstrate tendencies of either a fixed or growth mindset is by answering a few simple questions. Have a go at the below and this will help you assess whether you need mindset training.
How often do you push yourself out of your comfort zone and try new things as part of your personal development?
Do you usually stick to things that you know and are comfortable with?
The truth is. The fixed mindset is not a real thing. It is created within people's minds. Knowing this is extremely powerful but putting yourself to work is now your task. Mindset training here you come!
Everything you think about talent is probably wrong
If you are currently stuck with a mindset, you believe that you were either born with or without a particular talent. When you have a growing mind you well and truly know that this is false, and you have every ability to learn new things.
Talent is not something you are born with but is something that is cultivated and grown through deliberate practice.
The Four Steps to developing a growth mindset.
The first thing you need to do is be honest with yourself and recognize and realize that you do indeed have a fixed mindset. It’s about really developing your self-awareness and understanding your mind and how you think.
To move forward you have actively practiced this self-awareness and be sure to identify when you tend to slip into that fixed mindset. Observe that you are in this fixed mindset and realize that your mind is in the wrong place. Realize that this is the wrong state of mind and correct these thoughts. Now for those practical steps for growth mindset training.
Step 1: Learn to hear your fixed mindset “voice.”
One of the biggest battles you will face as you try to move your mind from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is the annoying voice in your head. You know the one.
You are about to try something new and that annoying voice in your head places doubt in your head and says, “don’t think you can do this do you?” or “what happens if you mess it up?”
It places doubt on your abilities and makes you feel like you are not able to achieve the task at hand rather than just believing that you can do it.
Even when you try and fail you will also hear that voice in your head saying something like “see I told you, you couldn’t do it” or “you don’t have the talent for this just give it up already”.
When someone provides you with some critical and truthful feedback that voice gets defensive and annoyed. “What right do they have to say that” or “this isn’t even my fault”. Your inner fixed mindset voice does not like feedback or criticism.
As mindset coaches, we know about this voice. We call it the inner saboteur. It's the voice in your head that is constantly undermining what you try to do.
It’s the over-critical voice that judges what we do and what we are trying to achieve. This inner saboteur is part of the fixed mindset.
If you recognize and practice self-awareness of your fixed mindset you will know that this voice will enter the fray when trying challenging new tasks. Knowing this you can tell it to bugger off and it’s not welcome in your mind.
Step 2: Recognize that you have a choice.
You can interpret these voices in 2 several ways: Obstacles, setbacks, and objections can be an indicator that you have fixed ability as well as capacity.
Or they can be an indicator that you require to test yourself, step up your efforts, change your techniques, and continue to grow as an individual.
The former is obviously the fixed mindset; the last is oriented toward growth.
The secret below is to change your framework of judgment, in this case, a fixed one, and drive it towards a growth mindset. This kind of mindset training is important to achieve your success goals
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Step 3: Talk back to it with a growth mindset voice.
As the new challenge approaches and you are aware that the fixed mindset voice is coming into the attack and says “I’m not so sure you can do this. You don’t have the talent to do it”.
Get ready to answer with your growth mindset zen. Respond to this fixed voice with “I’m not too sure that I can now, but in time I’m fairly sure I can learn to with strong effort and commitment”.
The fixed mindset continues with its rants “What if you can’t do it, you’ll be seen as a loser and a failure”.
Drive your growth mindset to the forefront and answer “Nearly every successful person has had their failure on their road to success, in fact, failure is just learning how to get to the end result better”.
The fixed mindset will continue to linger but as you continue to practice this method of warding off the annoying voice with your growth mindset.
Over time this habit will teach your brain to think directly about the growth mindset attitude and thought patterns.
Even the growth mindset needs repeat training to bring that big muscle inside your head to be the powerful tool it can be for you.
Knowing that it can achieve is the first step and practicing and remembering that it will take time is important. But YOU can do it.
When someone approaches you with criticism. The fixed mindset will get defensive, and the voice will say something like “It’s not my fault. It’s because of person X that this has happened”.
When you’re in the growth mindset zone you will think “Taking responsibility for this error will allow me to find a solution. I will listen even if it's hurtful and I will learn what I can”.
Personally, I rehearse these thoughts in my head, and I ask myself these questions. My favorite time to practice these exercises is on my drive to work.
I will take five minutes to run through growth mindset thinking and questions to get my head in the zone. This practice helps me daily.
I now do it just to continue practicing positive thoughts and reminding myself that I can achieve.
Step 4: Be active with your growth mindset thinking.
When you find yourself in a place of growth mindset thinking, of course, doubt can sometimes fall into your thoughts here and there.
As you continue to practice the above and take the necessary steps as outlined above you will move back to the growth mindset.
Use this mindset training to focus your efforts on how you react and teach your mind to move to a place of growth.
Remember as part of practicing the growth mindset you also need to place yourself in places of discomfort.
Try new things and challenge yourself to learn things you don’t know. Use is a process and when you have setbacks, understand them, and move on.
Continue to persist with your efforts. Adjust your tactics and strategies and learn from feedback to get yourself in the right zone.
Until next time,
Coach Nye
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