Having an exceptionally high IQ does not mean that someone will have a growth mindset. They may excel in math yet have a fixed mindset as to what they can do outside the world of math. This group will have a negative mindset, which could lead to many problems in their chosen field.
Having a growth mindset leads to a happier and more positive life. A person with a growth mindset has less stress and can deal with challenges in the best way possible. With a growth mindset, a person can see opportunities that a person with a fixed mindset will miss outright.
When we speak of IQ, even those with average or slightly above average IQ may hit a plateau of success and never work to reach much higher ground. They have an image installed in their minds of how far they can go in their careers and relationships, which stops them from expanding outwards. In this report, we will cover a number of topics related to mindset, and it is imperative that you pay close attention to how to grow your mindset and continue to do so during your lifespan.
What Is A Growth Mindset and Why Is It Important
Don?t blink. What comes to your mind when you hear those words? If you are interested in the fight world, it means the fight could be over in 10 seconds rather than going the distance. In your everyday world, it means things are changing rapidly.
New things are invented that in ten or twenty years will become obsolete. The only way to keep up with all the changes going on around you is to have a growth mindset rather than a fixed pattern.
A growth mindset is best developed at a young age because it is critical for learning. That doesn't mean that the adult of today cannot have a growth mindset. It just requires that the adult develops a different way of thinking.
To develop your growth mindset, you need to be open to learning in all areas of your life. It is also helpful to find joy and purpose in learning, not get frustrated, and go back to the old way of thinking. Staying in a fixed mindset will cause many issues.
To achieve a growth mindset, you also need to be willing to put in the effort. It is helpful to rid yourself of negative words and negative thinking. When faced with a learning challenge, you tell yourself, "I will find a way to learn this material," rather than, "this is too hard, no matter how hard I try. I can't learn this."
Constant effort, using trial and error, will produce the results. When you rid yourself of the fear of failing, it opens up a new world. It is essential to understand that failing means it didn't work, but you learned a lesson and will find the right way to something.
When a person reflects on the current state of their mind, they may come up with words like ?procrastination, failure, clumsy or below average.? These words are the foundation of a fixed mindset, which requires a new and more powerful vocabulary. During the person's life, they may have been told that they are not reaching their potential and decide that they cannot go further in life. This is not true and requires a new way of looking at things.
As adults, we work perhaps forty to fifty years of our life. We may stay in the same job or switch careers more than once. In both cases, we need to learn, or we do not grow and prosper.
As new learning challenges crop up in our life, we must be persistent in finding and understanding the knowledge we need.
When a person has a growth mindset, they set aside time to learn outside the job. They read self-development books and material related to their career. They are ready to knock down roadblocks by thinking outside the box and coming up with creative solutions.
Whether it is self-education or eliminating negative self-talk, working on yourself will lead to a satisfying career and life. In some cases, a person may need to work on avoiding toxic situations and people.
Developing a growth mindset for and reaching your full potential in life is a very worthy goal. It is vital to avoid anything that may cause harm to your growth mindset. As life is constantly changing over the next twenty years, you will be fully prepared to take on the challenges and succeed.
Growth vs. Fixed Mindset
We can always look to nature for examples that we can compare to our abilities. When you look at a small tree that has grown into and split a rock, you see the growth mindset in nature. The tree will continue to grow and flourish, and eventually, the rock will split completely into two parts. If the seed did not have growth firmly implanted within itself, it would wither and die.
People with fixed mindsets always see dead ends and do not have the motivation to break out of this negative thinking. We can look at all the differences between a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset to understand your potential.
Do You Have The Smarts?
When you have a growth mindset, you understand that you can become smarter and learn everything you need to succeed. A fixed mindset closes you off from the idea that you can become smarter, and you end up choosing to stay at the same level of intelligence.
Putting In The Work
With a growth mindset, you understand that practice and being persistent will lead you to success with all your goals. The fixed mindset has a person believing that they cannot get smarter or improve in any area. They believe that talent is number one and that hard work and grit cannot overcome lack of talent.
Drive and Motivation
People with a growth mindset can push themselves to grow in different areas. They can develop different ways to self-motivate and are not afraid to stumble along the way because they know failure is a learning experience. When they see friends or family succeed, they rejoice and applaud the effort.
A person with a fixed mindset sees learning or trying something new as the potential for being embarrassed and will not put in the effort. They fear failure and the rejection it may be bring. When family and friends succeed, they may react negatively towards them. Their mindset is, "why are they so lucky?" It is easy for a person with a fixed mindset to be jealous of the success of others.
No Such Thing As Failure
In a growth mindset, a person understands that not everything will go their way. They accept the lows and highs that life sometimes throws at them. In terms of failure, they relish the idea of trying new things and learning from what did not work in the past. They fully believe in the idea of Thomas Edison and his famous quotes such as, ?I have not failed. I just found 10,000 ways that won?t work.?
Those with a fixed mindset will either not try or give up quickly if there is any resistance to their attempts. For example, suppose a person with a fixed mindset fails the first year of university. In that case, they will not attempt another year and may tell themselves that a university education is beyond them as they are not as smart as others they know.
It is possible to go from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset when people finally believe they can. It typically takes something life-changing to occur for the fixed mindset person to state, "that is it, I've had it. I have to change this." They may go through a terrible experience such as a divorce because their significant other could no longer put up with the lack of effort, always struggling, and negative attitude.
When the desire to change is so great, the person with a fixed mindset will seek help in changing for the better.
Science has shown us that we can learn at any age if we use the right strategies and keep our bodies and brain in good health. Eliminating the negative voice in the brain may be the number one solution.
As it has been stated in many different ways, our brains will believe what we think about if we do it with enough conviction. Think and act positive, and you will be positive, and change is just around the corner.
8 Ways to Develop a Growth Mindset
When you commit to having a growth mindset, you need to explore the different ways to challenge and develop that thought process in your brain. To give you a boost, here are 8 ways to develop a growth mindset.
1.The Power of Asking Questions
As kids, we ask a ton of questions, but we think we know all the answers or are afraid to ask as we age. Start asking questions that will help you grow.
For example, "I see you having success in this area. What suggestions can you give me so that I can grow?" In the workplace, many people go years without promotions, or they get released from the company.
Often it is a lack of questions that can be the cause. Asking questions and be open to constructive criticism shows you have a growth mindset. Management notices that you are looking to be a pillar in the company, and they begin to formulate the possible ways to use you and your positive mindset to help grow the business.
It is important always to ask positive questions rather than negative ones such as, "I don't understand why we do it this way; it doesn't make any sense. Can you explain?" Frame the question in a different way that shows a positive mindset and someone willing to grow.
2.Embrace Grit and Perseverance
If you grew up in the '60s and '70s, your parents might have told you to apply some "elbow grease." That translates to get down and dirty, taking massive action to get the job done. Talent is great, but grit and perseverance will take you further.
3.Power of Learning
Understand that you do not have to know everything. Great leaders like Henry Ford grew a massive car company by either learning what he needed or hiring the people who could get the job done.
4.Embracing Change
In today's world, things change in the blink of an eye. Be ready for change and embrace it. This means if you lose your job, you get a new one right away, or you search for an opportunity to build your own little company.
5.Conquer Your Fears
As mentioned, things change. This means you have to get excited about trying new things and not falling into the idea that the path should be straight with no curves or hills. Be ready to learn by reading or listening to material that feeds your mind. Work on erasing your fears and embrace the idea of climbing to the top of the mountain instead of hiding where it is safe.
6.Leading by Example
Be the example that others look up to. When you show that you are willing to learn, change and take massive action, everyone around you wins. This means your children have the role model they need and your co-workers have someone to follow and excel at their jobs, making your company an excellent place to work.
7.Embrace Failure
Show others that you are not afraid to take chances and fail because you understand it is a learning process. Everything we love about our world is a process of failing and learning, from the cars we drive to the electronics we use in our daily lives. For example those little post-it notes you use, were originally a failure that turned into a success. The glue was supposed to super strong, and when it wasn't, the inventor from 3M asked, ?How can I use this?? By doing this, the idea came up to use it as light glue to hold paper together, until peeled apart.
8.Learning from Failure
Looking back at history, we see many people who repeatedly failed but did not give up. Instead, they looked at each failure as a chance to learn. They asked themselves what they could learn from their mistakes or how they could use this? Many successful people did not allow rejection to stop them because they had a growth mindset. Disney is a very famous name and one of the largest companies in the world. Walt Disney had four great ideas for companies, but his ideas were rejected, and he was told, "You are not creative enough." Walt Disney shrugged this negativity off and went after his dream, and the rest is history.
10 Powerful Habits for A Growth Mindset
There are wonderful lessons that can be learned by looking back in time. The ancient philosopher Seneca had many thoughts on how the mind should work. In terms of a growth mindset, we could look at his quote, "A man who suffers before necessary, suffers more than necessary." This means that a fixed mindset is one that will worry far too early and causing stress that could have been avoided. We can develop powerful habits to go from a fixed mindset to one of growth. Here are 10 of the best:
1.Finding Joy and Laughter: The Power of Humour
The Readers Digest was one of the most popular magazines about 30 to 40 years ago. It was divided into many different sections and had one called, "Laughter is the best medicine." This was their humour section, and the title invoked the idea that we need to laugh in order to stay healthy. This is true. When we laugh, it helps us flood our bodies with happy hormones and build a positive mindset. Look for the joy in life and laugh at every possible moment.
2.Breaking Free from Limiting Beliefs
Changing limiting beliefs is essential. One limiting belief that you must let go of right now is that your mindset is fixed and cannot be converted to a growth mindset. This is 100% false, and the road to a growth mindset is filled with positive books, people, and the actions you take to change.
3.Surrounding Yourself with Successful People
When we mentioned people as part of the road to a growth mindset, it should inspire you to seek people who have a growth mindset. Spend as much time as possible with these people and learn how they think and how they react to the challenges that life throws at everyone.
4.Expanding Your Mindset
We also mentioned books. This means every medium such as podcasts, online articles, eBooks, and physical books that promote a positive mindset. Build your library of growth mindset-related books today.
5.Finding Joy in Helping Others
Have you ever encountered someone who told you, ?I love to help people. Serving others gives me great joy." People who think like this are very happy and enjoy good health. When you give back to others, such as being a volunteer, your body responds again with happy, positive chemicals that circulate in your body.
6.Spread Love and Compassion
Volunteering is a great way to show empathy for those who are sick or in need. Remember, you can show empathy for others at any time. By showing love and compassion, you fill your mind with love and positive thoughts. These thoughts go out into the universe and come back to you in the way of blessings and love from others.
7.Expanding horizons
Get out of your comfort zone and stretch your mind as to what is possible. This allows you to seek new opportunities, new friends, and better relationships.
8.The Power of Language and Habit
We know that we have to build the habit of thinking positively. It is also essential to get into the habit of tracking how you speak to others. It may be necessary for you to pause when speaking and think of how to phrase your sentence. Over time, as your vocabulary and tone change to positive, you will start to re-establish your usual way of speaking as your brain is now wired to think and speak positively.
9.Rewarding Yourself
Get into the habit of rewarding yourself as you implement new habits. Each time you make a positive change, either verbally praise yourself or find a treat that you have been desiring, such as a night out at a new restaurant. You are in charge of yourself, and as such, you should not wait for someone to praise you.
10.Navigating Negativity: Responding with Kindness and Self-Reflection
Learn to deflect negativity and respond in a kind manner. When someone makes a dismissive remark about you, politely inquire why they feel the way they do. Look for any truths in what was said and if there is a kernel in there, take it and work on it. If it is completely false, dismiss it and understand that the other person may be vocalizing their issues to make themselves feel better.
The Importance of a Growth Mindset in Life
A growth mindset is not just important in business, it is also crucial in our personal lives. It is the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved through hard work and dedication rather than being fixed at birth. Having a growth mindset can lead to greater personal and professional success, improved relationships, and a more positive outlook on life. Here are eight steps to help you achieve a growth mindset in life.
- Focus on the Process, Not on the Outcome: The process is what leads to success and growth, not just the outcome. Be mindful of the process and enjoy the journey. Each step in the process is an opportunity to learn, grow, and improve.
- Practice Gratitude: Being grateful for what you have in life helps to cultivate a positive and growth-oriented mindset. Each day, take a moment to reflect on what you are grateful for and how it brings value to your life.
- Embrace Failure: Failure is not a setback, it is an opportunity to learn and grow. Each time you fail, take time to reflect on what went wrong, what you learned, and how you can improve in the future.
- Find Purpose: Identify your passions and values. When you have a strong sense of purpose, it can help you to stay motivated and focused on your life goals.
- Avoid Comparison: Comparison is the thief of joy. Everyone's journey is unique, and it is important not to compare yourself unfairly to others. Instead, focus on your own growth and progress.
- Take Action: Action is the key to growth and progress. Set goals and take action towards achieving them. It is important to not get stuck in analysis paralysis and to take risks.
- Seek Out Knowledge and Expertise: Learning new skills and seeking out knowledge can help you to grow and expand your horizons. Don't be afraid to ask for help or to seek out expertise in areas where you need to improve.
- Cultivate Resilience: Life can be challenging and full of setbacks. Cultivate resilience by developing a growth mindset that allows you to bounce back from setbacks and to see them as opportunities to grow and learn.
In summary, having a growth mindset in life is the key to personal and professional success. By focusing on the process, practicing gratitude, embracing failure, finding purpose, avoiding comparison, taking action, seeking out knowledge and expertise, and cultivating resilience, you can achieve greater growth and success in all areas of your life.