Growth vs Fixed Mindset
Estimated reading time: 3 minutes
Why do exceptional people seem to have a special talent for converting life’s setbacks into future successes? Mindset.
Your mindset, how you view your abilities and potential, shapes everything. It determines whether you see challenges as threats or opportunities, whether feedback feels like an attack or a gift. And it profoundly affects the way they lead their lives, shaping their ideas about risk and effort.
There are two fundamental mindsets that drive how we approach life and work: fixed and growth. People can be a mixture, but most people lean towards one or the other. We can also hold different mindsets in various areas of our lives. For example, we may have a growth mindset professionally and a fixed mindset in our personal lives.
What is a Fixed Mindset?
Core Belief: Your talents, intelligence, and abilities are carved in stone. You either have it or you don’t.
How This Shows Up:
- You expect to be naturally good at things without much effort
- You avoid challenges that might expose weaknesses
- You take feedback personally and view it as either good news or bad news about who you are
- You’re constantly worried about how you’ll be judged
- You give up quickly when things don’t come easily
- You’re more concerned with looking smart than getting smarter
- You thrive on safety
The Result: You spend your energy proving your worth instead of improving your abilities.
What is a Growth Mindset?
Core Belief: Your abilities can be developed through effort, strategy, and learning from mistakes.
How This Shows Up:
- You embrace challenges as opportunities to learn
- You see effort as the path to mastery, not a sign of weakness
- You welcome feedback as valuable information for improvement, even when it’s unflattering
- You persist through setbacks and obstacles
- You find inspiration in others’ success
- You’re focused on getting improving, not just looking good
- You thrive on stretching yourself beyond your comfort zone
The Result: You spend your energy growing your abilities instead of defending your image.
We Choose Our Beliefs
Your mindset isn’t fixed, it’s a choice.
When you believe your abilities can grow, everything changes. Challenges become exciting instead of threatening. Feedback becomes fuel instead of judgment. Setbacks become stepping stones instead of roadblocks.
The question isn’t whether you’re naturally talented. The question is: are you willing to get better?
You can when you choose the growth mindset.
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