“Do what you love, and don’t stop until you get what you love. Work as hard as you can, imagine immensities…”
A fixed mindset assumes that they way we are now - our characteristics, intelligence, skills, thoughts and behaviors are fixed forever. That with focus, practice and hard work, your perspectives and attitudes cannot change. A “growth mindset,” on the other hand, thrives on challenge and sees failure not as evidence of unintelligence but as a heartening springboard for growth and for stretching our existing abilities. There are consequences to believing in one versus the other. Consequences in our growth as humans, people or leaders. And I would venture to guess a direct correlation to our happiness and fulfillment in life. The either/or of fixed or growth mindset shows itself in many ways in our engagements with others and has overlap with the degree of empathy one shows for others perspectives. Listening with an open mind, understanding that we may not have the same experiences or knowledge as someone else, keeps our heart and mind open to growth.
Our qualities are not static or fixed and over the course of a lifetime can be shaped, improved and pivoted with a curious mind focused on learning new things. It exercises our mind and our soul. This is why I strive to read 100 books per year - some fiction, some non-fiction and some in categories I would not normally read. My wife looks at me sideways sometimes when we are in the bookstore and we are checking out. Or, taking classes on Udemy or Masterclass in categories I would not normally approach. For example, I learned how to pick locks this past Summer on Udemy.
The growth mindset creates a passion for learning and for leaning into areas you may not be comfortable. Making a career pivot is one of those areas. Building on your skill sets, passions and what makes you happy to earn a living. This is scary and most people would rather remain fixed into what is comfortable. The ecstasy that ensues when someone makes a change and that change sticks and shows progress is real. And if that pivot fails, that person looks at that as a learning not “see, I knew I would fail.” This is new body language for many people and even people that lean growth mindset can still feel this way from time to time.
Required reading: Mindset: The New Psychology Of Success, Carol Dweck.
Having a growth mindset requires working that muscle every minute, every hour of every day. Leaning into the unknown with curiosity. Learning from people that you would not normally engage with, be vulnerable to not knowing and trying to learn. Not being afraid to fail a couple of times and get back up. Take the feedback.
During the pandemic, it seems people embraced a growth mindset against all odds. Masterclass, Udemy, Peloton and other areas of “newness” for people to break the cycle of what has been their past. Get into shape, learn a new skill, dive into new topics and really explore the sides of their brains they did not know existed. I will see this as a positive of the pandemic and worked hard to ensure that is how I embraced it. I took a Harvard Business School class, I rode in a Peloton on my Peloton, I read books about Indian Chiefs and changed my perspectives on what is important to have in my life.