You know that a growth mindset is the single best advantage you can have in this world. But how do you know if you have one? And how can you foster a growth mindset in yourself and those around you?
That’s what I want to cover today: concrete steps you can take to create a growth mindset. This will have an enormous impact on your life, career, and relationships. When we expand this out to our organizations, it can transform entire companies and communities, too.
1. Change the Word “Challenge” to “Opportunity”
The single biggest thing to start doing is embracing challenges that come up. Whenever something is hard, or you stumble, you can learn something you clearly didn’t know before.
So, especially when you’re having a tough time, ask yourself: “What can I learn from this experience?”
2. Celebrate Effort, Not Just Success
This one is especially helpful in groups. We should obviously take time to celebrate our successes, but the effort itself is something that can inspire and is worthy of support.
Whether it’s for yourself or when you’re acknowledging others, appreciate the hard work and perseverance.
3. Learn from Criticism (When You’re Ready)
Constructive criticism is a powerful tool for growth. Instead of taking it personally, try to extract useful insights from feedback and use it to improve your skills and understanding.
This comes with a major caveat. If criticism is getting you activated, take a time out. Set it aside and wait to return to it once you get a bit more perspective. Similarly, when you give constructive criticism, make sure to deliver it at a time when the other person is ready and willing to hear it.
4. Cultivate Curiosity
Keeping an open mind helps you take in a lot more information. And as you explore new ideas and perspectives, you’ll become more and more curious about the world around you. That is a natural drive you can follow to learn more while enjoying yourself.
Keeping team members curious is the best way to generate innovation in organizations.
5. Set Learning Goals
Performance-based goals are important. They keep individuals and teams delivering according to set standards.
But just as important are learning goals. What will you (or your team) be capable of doing in a year that you can’t do today?
6. Foster Resilience
I’ve said it before, and I’ll reiterate here: Resilience is not about avoiding falls but bouncing back.
When we move into difficulties, we can expect to fail at times. That means we have to get good about getting back up.
The five steps above are hard-won insights. And if you start implementing them today, you’ll discover explosive growth. I can’t wait to see what you do with it!
Best regards,
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