Unfortunately, a growth mindset is not something you can adopt overnight. There is no ‘magic switch’ – making one simple change that will achieve the exact desired result. Instead, mindset is about how you perceive the world and yourself. It is about patterns you are used to and comfortable with. It is about things you consider so obvious that you barely notice.
The first step you should take is to accept the possibility of change. The beginning of the growth mindset is a change in attitude. You will need to learn to let go of deterministic explanations. No more of ‘He is just that type of person’ or ‘That is what I always do’ This can be harder than it looks – after all, if everything is predetermined, I am not to blame for my failures – but if not, well…
The language you use can really influence your mindset. So, try to replace the word failure with ‘learning experience’. Do not focus on traits – I am a smart person – but on actions – “I did this task really well”. Good vs good enough – even if what you accomplished could be improved, is it really a failure? Can you learn to see good enough as a success rather than a failure?
If you adopt the view that effort is all that matters, you will need to be prepared to put in a lot of it. Hard work does not guarantee success – but success is impossible without it. It also pays to see the process as more important than the result. The result can be influenced by luck, or other factors – but how much effort you make depends solely on you.
If you are to change, you must learn how not to blame yourself for failing. Because growth requires trial and error – and if you try something for the first time, you will make a lot of errors. Abstaining from blaming can be very hard – of course I should have known better than to do A, how could I possibly think that B would work, what I fool I was for not seeing C. For, if we are to really stop blaming ourselves, we must also do the same for other people. So, can you forgive others for making mistakes? Can your forgive yourself?
The worst thing about making errors is that it makes you look stupid. And even if you stop judging yourself, other people will. You might know that mistakes are proof of you learning new things, but people with a fixed mindset will see you for a failure. So you must learn to understand criticism as an expression of a fixed mindset, rather than your own failure.
You will hear a lot of criticism, much of it unwarranted, so should you ignore it? On the contrary! Just because it is unpleasant, doesn’t mean you cannot learn from feedback. Other people offer an external perspective, they often can see what you cannot. So you can learn about where you can improve – what you could do better. Just be careful not to start blaming yourself.
This information was part of the SASSI LLC training materials. If you want to learn more, visit the Guide to becoming an Olderpreneur on the SASSI Hub.
