Growth Mindset

A Growth mindset, what is it besides a trendy word?

 In many of my trainings I focus on people's "mindset", their thoughts, inner dialogues or the beliefs they have, basically everything that takes place inside our brains. These thoughts and inner dialogues can help you, but they can also get in your way quite a bit.

Carole Dweck describes in her ground breaking research that people who keep learning continue to develop their brains. New neural pathways are created. This is in contradiction with earlier research, where the assumption was that you reach your maximum brain capacity after early adulthood. So that's good news for everyone!

For example, with a growth mindset you: embrace challenges, ask for feedback, see others as inspiration, accept setbacks, etc. With a fixed mindset on the other hand, you stay where you are in terms of development and there is nothing wrong with that. In some areas you may not want to learn anything.

A frequently asked question in my trainings is then: "How do you determine when you want to choose for the fixed mindset and when for the growth mindset? In other words: what do you want to develop and when?

I think the answer can be found in your feelings. By feeling whether there is a (deeper) desire to do something and then choosing to do that. And yes, that sometimes involves fear. For example, if you are allowed to present in front of a very large group (e.g. 400 people), doing it anyway requires you to be courageous.
There are also things you may be both afraid of and feel no desire for (e.g. skydiving), then having a fixed mindset is fine. You always choose for yourself!

So direct your mindset by following your desires and taking your fear and all (negative) thoughts at face value. If the fear is so big that you slip into survival mode, it might be wise to take a smaller step toward your desire.

Starting from your desire, what you want, stimulating your growth mindset is exciting compared to the comfort of staying in your (fixed) mindset, but will yield you growth as a human being!

Do you want to know more about the Growth mindset? Please contact me.

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