What is a Growth Mindset vs. Fixed?

Have you ever heard the terms ‘growth mindset’ vs. ‘fixed mindset?’

If you haven’t, take a moment to read those words out loud. They are pretty self-explanatory…to some extent.

Let me expand on them.

These terms were coined by American Psychologist, Carol Dweck, who wrote the popular book Mindset and has spent decades studying both growth mindsets and fixed. Her specialty is examining human motivation and diving into the nuances as to why people succeed (or don’t) and what’s within our control to foster success.

As she describes it: “My work bridges developmental psychology, social psychology, and personality psychology, and examines the self-conceptions (or mindsets) people use to structure the self and guide their behavior. My research looks at the origins of these mindsets, their role in motivation and self-regulation, and their impact on achievement and interpersonal processes.”

This is how she coins what a fixed and growth mindset looks like.

Fixed mindset:

“Believing that your qualities are carved in stone — the fixed mindset — creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you only have a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character — well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn’t do to look deficient in these most basic characteristics.”

Growth mindset:

“In this mindset, the hand you’re dealt is just the starting point for development. This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts. Although people may differ in every which way — in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments — everyone can change and grow through application and exercise.”

Dweck argues people holding a growth mindset believe their abilities can change with practice, while people with a fixed mindset believe that their abilities can't be changed.

These are the qualities she says that people with a growth mindset have:

Source: lifehack.org

1) Intelligence can be developed. A fixed mindset might say intelligence is static.

2) Embrace challenges... nothing is too great for them to overcome. Everything is a learning and a chance for growth.

3) Persist in the face of setbacks... these are just roadblocks they must climb over to get to where they want to go.

4) See effort as a path to mastery.

5) Learn from criticism... what is the teaching? How can I improve?

5 1/2) Find inspiration in the success of others. Celebrate other people’s wins.

This is important to keep in mind. It's not that people with a fixed mindset don't read self-help books, but they often don't know how or have the willingness to put anything into practice because their beliefs are telling them a different story, “that success is about being more gifted than others, that failure does measure you, and that effort is for those who can’t make it on talent.”

She writes:

We often see books with titles like The Ten Secrets of the World’s Most Successful People crowding the shelves of bookstores, and these books may give many useful tips. But they’re usually a list of unconnected pointers, like “Take more risks !” or “Believe in yourself!” While you’re left admiring people who can do that, it’s never clear how these things fit together or how you could ever become that way. So you’re inspired for a few days, but basically, the world’s most successful people still have their secrets.

Instead, as you begin to understand the fixed and growth mindsets, you will see exactly how one thing leads to another— how a belief that your qualities are carved in stone leads to a host of thoughts and actions, and how a belief that your qualities can be cultivated leads to a host of different thoughts and actions, taking you down an entirely different road.

So how can a person shift their mindset from fixed to growth?

These are her suggestions:

Step 1. Listen to yourself. The voice of a fixed mindset will stop you from following the path to success. For example, you may hear yourself questioning whether you have the skills or talent for a project? Or you worry that you'll fail and people will not respect you, look down on you, or think you're stupid? If you do, you can use thought awareness to combat negative thinking.

Step 2. Recognize that you have a choice. Everyone will face obstacles, challenges and defeats throughout life, but the way that you respond to them can make the difference between success and failure.

Step 3. Challenge your fixed mindset. When you're faced with a challenge and you hear yourself thinking that you'd better not try because you don't have the talent to succeed, remember that you can learn the skills you need to achieve your goals. You may not succeed the first time, but practice will help you to develop.

Step 4. Take action. When you practice thinking and acting in a mindset of growth, it becomes easier to tackle obstacles in a more positive way. When you make a mistake, try to see it as a chance to learn.

One of her clearest examples for me at least, as someone who was a high-level athlete, was when she referenced sports stars who exhibited a growth mindset. All of the athletes realized success comes from hard work. And trial and error. Learning from the lessons and improving from there.

Michael Jordan and Mia Hamm (commercial)

• Michael Jordan (Basketball)

• Mia Hamm (Soccer)

• Jackie Joyner -Kersee (Track and Field)

If they didn’t win, it didn’t stop them from trying harder or working harder towards their goal. They didn’t immediately think of themselves as a failure. They knew that mindset and heart were things that could propel you to greatness. And that every stumble was an opportunity for growth and expansion.

Their careers and how they approach life are what the growth mindset is all about.

At this stage, you may feel a bit overwhelmed with all this information. It could also be especially challenging to take in for those people who may now realize that they’ve been operating with a fixed mindset their whole life. To that I say, go easy on yourself - a lot of these behaviours and beliefs can come from societal conditioning.

But one of the key concepts from this book is that “the view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.”

Keeping that in mind, ask yourself, how do I see myself? How am I currently living and am I holding myself back?And where is there room for growth?

To your success!