By Dr Attia Anwar
A growth mindset is an essential aspect of life that helps us to grow. It means you can develop your abilities and increase your chances of success in anything. It is also important for your peace of mind. You have a choice. Mindsets are just something in your mind, like beliefs. You can always change your mindset. Once you know that, you will understand which mindset will lead you to what path of psychological upbringing, and you have a choice in this regard.
People with a growth mindset believe that their abilities and talents are not fixed and can be improved anytime with effort and consistency. It is not about all doing hard work or putting strenuous effort into something. Nonetheless, it is a mindset that nothing is impossible, and people can learn new skills. One day, you realize that you are so bad at singing.
If you have a growth mindset, you will say that you can hire a coach and learn singing, or you can seek help from other sources and improve your singing. Efforts may not be very big, or the time spent on learning may not be huge. But the idea that the human mind is capable of doing more will keep you towards learning new things, and you will constantly improve yourself. In a study, it was found that students who expressed a growth mindset were better university students. They learned faster, were better at their jobs, generally more successful, and happy in their life.
On the other hand, people who have a fixed mindset. They think that talents and abilities are fixed and that no effort can improve their talents. Of course, you have to have a fixed mindset. If you are standing on a cliff, you have to jump because you cannot fly; that is fixed, and no amount of growth mindset will make you fly that time. Nevertheless, people who have a growth mindset can find other ways to fly, and they do.
If you are someone who wants to grow as a person and wants others to succeed, you will mostly feel good about yourself. People with a growth mindset take adversity as a chance to grow. They don’t believe that they can do this, or that they will ever be able to learn that. Rather, they believe that with some effort and a little learning, they will be able to do that. So they take all the changes positively, learn new skills, and work with them. They also do not get mad if something goes wrong. They try to learn from the situation and try to find opportunities in adversity. So they are more adapted to life with a positive mindset and reach their goals.
So, in short, people with a growth mindset become highly successful because they enjoy learning new skills. They keep learning new things throughout life. As life and situation are constantly changing. In this era, change is so rapid that you have to constantly learn new things to adapt to a changing environment. So if you are in the habit of learning, you try to learn everything that comes on way. But people with fixed mindsets become bitter about the constantly changing environment, and their efficiency becomes lower. Moreover, people with a growth mindset are not only good learners, but they also feel happy to make other people learn. They think that is also important for their growth. So they bring positive change to their surroundings. They help people, and they set a good example that everyone can learn new things.
A person who does not have a positive growth mindset is like— Oh, I am not a science student, I will not be able to understand that. But the person who has will believe in positive struggle, will yield growth. It is not only growth mindset people who make efforts. In a fixed mindset, you can make efforts, but it is all about the results; if you fail, your efforts are wasted. A person with a growth mindset, if he/she fails, takes it as a growth opportunity to learn.
We can change our mindset if we have a good growth mindset. But if we don’t have it, the good news is that we can change it. First, listen to your inner voice and see what it is saying. It may be said that if you do not try this new thing, nobody will know that you fail. That is how you discover what your mindset is. You have to recognize at this stage whatever your mind is telling you. You have a clear choice of trying or not trying. You should talk back to your mind, even if you fail, you will learn something. And then practice it again and again. Whenever you find yourself choosing. Choose to do something irrespective of the results. You can take the help of people and mentors who have encouraging attitudes. If you listen to positive things from others about situations like this, you will start saying this to yourself.
Another important thing that keeps you in a fixed mindset is seeking the approval of others. Don’t focus on others. Keep focusing on yourself and how you grow. Stop worrying about that if people are watching your progress or not. Nobody is watching. In working for your goals, if you fail, embrace the failure and take it as an opportunity to learn. And you will learn from your mistakes. And you will be totally on the path of growth and fulfillment. A growth mindset also helps in relationships. If your partner has a growth mindset, she/he will learn from you and will not take everything personally. Because they know things can be improved and changed. With a fixed mindset, your qualities are fixed, your partner’s qualities are fixed, and your relationship is fixed. But actually, all three things can be developed.
In the workplace and organizations, people with a fixed mindset as bosses constantly want to show their power. They reaffirm their power by demeaning others. They are threatened by high-performing individuals. They are more focused on their power than on employees’ well-being. So, a toxic culture is promoted, and it ultimately hinders the growth of the workplace and organization. People with a growth mindset are less defensive of their mistakes; they think of them as a source of learning. They take genuine feedback and take it seriously, and use it for improvement. They create more learning experiences for themselves and others, and organizations thrive under their leadership. There is a culture of self-examination, open communication, and teamwork in these workplaces or companies. People can be independent thinkers and team players at the same time. We have to give them a chance to differ and contradict when they feel it.
Change is hard, and change toward a growth mindset cannot magically solve your problems. Problems will be there, but it will make your life richer. It will make you happier and more fulfilled. And your resilience to face problems and capacity to enjoy blessings will be increased.
The author, Dr. Attia Anwar, is a consultant family physician with a postgraduate degree from the Royal College of GPs UK. She is a strong advocate of health and well-being and wants patient participation in decision-making regarding health.
