Cultivating a growth mindset
In today’s world, with a constant need to learn, change and adapt, many people struggle with the thought “Maybe I am not smart enough”.Yet there are many, who learn and don’t give up, irrespective of the number of times they failed. It is commonly considered that this thought process is based on our experiences, backgrounds, genes, and upbringing. However, studies show that the category to which we belong is based on our mindset.
Mindset is the collection of thoughts and beliefs that we hold on to, that affects everything we do, feel, and influences how we behave.
Understanding mindsets
Psychologist Carol Dweck explores how a simple belief can have the power to transform your life in her book Mindset – The New Psychology of Success. She elaborates on two types of mindsets:
Fixed Mindset: The view that we are born with a certain level of abilities and characteristics, like personality and intelligence, and they cannot be changed. People with a fixed mindset tend to believe that intelligence alone leads to success and effort does not make any difference. Such beliefs create an urgency to prove themselves over and over to validate their sense of self.
Growth Mindset: A view that we can develop and improve our abilities through effort and perseverance. Not that people with this mindset start to believe that they’ll be the next Mozart or Stephen Hawking. But their mindset makes them passionate about learning, and resilient when faced with non-constructive criticism or adversities.
People with a Fixed Mindset tend to adopt beliefs that translates to thinking – “He or she is better than me”, “I am dumb”, “This is all I can do”, “All my efforts are useless”, “I am way beyond my learning years” – when faced with failures. This is because some of us have been trained at a younger age that failure is unacceptable and have been shamed or compared to kids who performed smarter at that moment. We have been given an understanding that we are not intelligent or do not possess certain abilities and that resulted in building low self-esteem and sometimes a pessimistic outlook towards life as we develop a fear of not being smart. Similarly, sometimes when children are praised for the results and considered smart also develop a fixed mindset when they perceive that they have the ability or that their genes contributed to it, and so on.
People with a growth mindset, are the ones who believe they can get smarter if they put in some effort. They usually think – “I can learn to do anything”, “I like a challenge”, “I can ask for help”, “I am inspired”. They are curious and not afraid of making mistakes. It is possible that in their childhood they were encouraged to make an effort and appreciated for the effort and dedication no matter the outcome or they were encouraged when they took risks and not penalised when they failed. Therefore, it is important to praise children for their efforts and evaluate the process they undertake. With experience, they develop a passion for learning and are driven by curiosity.
Acquiring a growth mindset
Luckily our mindset is not fixed either. This is backed by studies in neuroscience that has helped us understand that our brain possesses an extraordinary capacity to reorganise pathways and connections and even create new neurons – this is termed neuroplasticity. While our genes pass a certain set of information, each individual adds to it from what they gain through new experiences. Neuroplasticity is an ongoing process and allows us to learn, experience and form new memories throughout our lives.
To test it, you can start by trying to learn something simple that you hadn’t tried before. You can deliberately move from a fixed to a growth mindset by questioning your beliefs and recognising that you need to change. If you dig deep, you’ll find that you have continuously learnt and adapted to many changes in life. Your mindset was not developed overnight, it will take time to change it and is worth the effort. Having a growth mindset can improve the quality of life as you see opportunities in setbacks and respond effectively to challenges.
A growth mindset helps you perform better at work, learn art, sports; even helps you recover from illnesses and mend relationships. Remember, mindset is not just about learning, but also how we view the world as it influences the way we think about everything, for example – disability, race, sexuality, lifestyle etc. It determines how we treat others and sets an example for those who look up to us.