How To Embrace a Growth Mindset to Accomplish More in Life

When was the last time you felt proud of yourself? 

Over the next three articles, we’ll explore the Accomplishment Pathway of the PERMAH model.   

According to Seligman (2012), a sense of accomplishment is the result of working toward and reaching goals, mastering an endeavor, and having self-motivation to finish what you set out to do. This contributes to wellbeing because individuals can look at their lives with a sense of pride.  In this article, we’ll explore how developing a growth mindset can help you accomplish more in life. 

Developing a Growth Mindset

“I didn’t fail. I just found 10,000 ways the light bulb didn’t work.” Thomas Edison

Do you fear failure? We all fail at times, but how we react to the fear of failure is most important. We can either “go for it,” and learn from failure, or we can hold ourselves back because the thought of failure is too painful.

It’s the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

A fixed mindset is a belief that you are born with a certain amount of intelligence and talent, and that’s it. People with a fixed mindset, perceive failure as a signal they have reached their potential. As a result, their motivation to pursue new activities or goals is low. A fixed mindset hinders our ability to learn, evolve and grow. 

Growing up, I had a fixed mindset when it came to sports. It developed as a result of comparing myself to others, or trying new things and not measuring up, so I gave up to save myself from criticism or ridicule.

People with a growth mindset believe that while they’re born with a certain amount of talent and intelligence, with learning and effort they can always improve – and neuroscience now validates this belief.

As a result of developing a growth mindset, I’ve experienced things I never dreamed would be possible, like running a marathon, horseback riding, teaching in higher education, career advancement, or owning a business. I reframed failure as a learning opportunity to grow and I became comfortable with stepping out of my comfort zone, and not worrying about a perfect outcome every time.

Studies have found that a growth mindset makes it easier to set stretch goals, ask for help, and feel motivated to achieve the things that matter most to you. It sparks hope by helping you feel like you have nothing to lose and everything to gain if you step outside your comfort zone. You can achieve your true potential with learning, effort, and courage.

How To Nurture a Growth Mindset

Your mindset will determine your motivation to pursue goals or activities that may become a great source of joy and happiness for you. 

Practice a growth mindset by:

• Setting learning goals for a new skill, task, or hobby. As you tackle the goal, practice letting go of the outcome, embrace your mistakes, and identify the processes and efforts you can build upon to keep improving.
• Getting comfortable with failure. When you fail, remind yourself that you’re just “not there yet.” Be willing to adjust your goals to build the skills you need to get closer to the outcomes you want. If you set smaller goals that are realistic and achievable, and they get you to your ultimate goal, it gives you the opportunity to experience success along the way.
• Viewing challenges as opportunities. Instead of dreading the obstacles you face view them as opportunities to problem solve and experiment so you can overcome them. Challenges are put on our path to expand our minds and abilities so, welcome them rather than seeing them as your nemesis.
• Embrace imperfection. If we constantly strive for perfection, it’s easy to let ourselves down when we don’t reach it. This can lead to discouragement and disengagement. To avoid this strive for doing your best or simply getting things done.  Instead of focusing on what isn’t perfect, focus on what is going well. 
• Pay attention to your thoughts. How many times have you told yourself you simply couldn’t do something? The more you tell yourself that, the more you convince yourself that it’s true and then, when you do attempt it and fail, you end up with confirmation bias. Instead, a “can-do” attitude will make you more likely to take risks and push youurself past your limitations.

Keep going, keep growing…

Related posts:

Fighting Failure With Grit: Building the Perseverance to Accomplish Your Goals

Not Everything You Think is True: The Power and Limitations of Your Thoughts