Living In A Fixed Mindset or a Growth Mindset?

Posted on March 20, 2024 by Catherine Barron, One of Thousands of Life Coaches on Noomii.

If you don’t know the difference between the two, stick around for the next few minutes and we’ll take a deep look and see which one offers more value to your life.

If you had one life to live, how would you live it? Because, if you don’t have your mindset ready to take on the challenges of everyday living, then you probably won’t be very successful in meeting obstacles head-on and solving them as you go.

That’s what I mean by a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset. This concept of growth is hugely important to going forward with any lifetime dream or goal. It is the foundation of truly being successful and not making it or fulfilling your passion, business goals, or any type of career or even relationship. So, let’s look at a fixed mindset vs. a growth mindset and apply some knowledge to making changes and moving forward with ease as opposed to stumbling consistently and not making any real gains.

What is a fixed mindset? A fixed mindset is when a person gets locked into their views, values, beliefs, perceptions, ideas, and convictions of what they believe to be truth and consistently applies them to their everyday living decisions, judgments, and choices, and they may be holding you back.

Psychologist Dr. Carol Dweck, one of the leading experts on mindset, says that when people think that their talent is the most important thing to achieve success, they believe that their nature determines whether they are good or bad at something. They believe that they have been born with limitations and this cannot be changed, (ex.: a mathematically talented person, but he/she desires to play music). But that concept of belief is far from the truth and the opposite of a growth mindset. A growth mindset is an open-minded view of the journey, the path, your purpose, the world, people, and so on. Openness and an open mind are what give you the growth you are looking for in your life and your maturity. And it is so easy to adapt to, but not if you’re locked into a closed or fixed mindset.

Having an unlimited mindset sets you apart and gives you opportunities that would not be afforded to you vs. a locked mindset. It is my mission to teach and guide people to this incredible state of mind and being. Your talents, intelligence, and abilities will be developed through my unlocked philosophy and methods. You will learn how to stay motivated, focused, and open-minded in achieving direction, purposeful meaning, and growth.

So, here’s how you go about unlocking your mindset and learning to use the full capabilities that you possess. First, keep a notebook/journal in which you can write down all your private thoughts and discoveries about yourself. Second, then write down all the values and beliefs about everything you regularly hold within your mind. Third, write what you believe about your talents, capabilities, intelligence, and adaptability. Consider how you think about life and your future. What do you believe about family, friends, relationships, business, finances, religion? Go deep and give it real and honest thought. Remember, this is only for you and no one else. Don’t forget to put a date on it because in time you will be able to measure your improved or changed mindset.

Once you have your list of values and beliefs, analyze it to see if anything could be changed. This is where it is good if you can afford a coach or an outside viewpoint or perspective from someone you trust who won’t criticize you. You do not need critical advice. You need another perspective to consider other options in your thinking process. In other words, ask yourself if there are other possibilities in how to think about different or new approaches to decisions you make about your life. If the answer is yes, then you are probably on the right track. Because maybe what you have been doing is not working well enough and another approach might just be the answer to a more positive outcome.

For example, it could involve how you approach your partner or spouse about wanting more affection or attention. Maybe you feel the only way to get their attention is to raise your voice a little and look very stern and threatening. As if you were saying the words, “Like, if I don’t get more affection, I may leave.” But, your partner or spouse never reacts to a demanding tone. But, you don’t change your style of asking for what you want because you believe this is what works with people in general. And you wonder why things are not going well and in fact, never have gone very well in your past relationships either. So, the belief is in “how to approach someone when you want or need their love and attention”; in this example, you would need to change your approach or at least, modify it.

Based on this awareness, you should try various methods, but try something different. When one of them works, then you know you have success. It doesn’t matter whether or not the previous methods did not work, by the way. What matters is that you tried something different and went against your beliefs and saw that maybe there’s a better belief that works for you. Remember you did not fail, you never fail, when you try. And I, personally, don’t believe in failure when a person tries to better themselves because it’s the word “try” that matters. As long as you try, you can never fail. Do not forget that, because it matters how you talk to yourself. And you will hear me say this many times. I will remind you of that throughout my podcasts, writings, and teachings. Because if you’re not careful of how you talk to yourself, you can never be the person you envision and you’re actually sabotaging your efforts.

Once you have an idea of how a fixed mindset works against you, we can examine the opposite, a growth mindset. A growth mindset by Psychologist Carol S. Dweck describes a growth mindset as the idea that intelligence can be developed and it requires effort. Learning helps us build intelligence which makes us smarter. This is so true. I used to have the belief that I was good at writing and speaking because they came easier to me. And that I was not very good at technology because it did not come easy to me and I had to put in enormous energy and time to learn it. I always thought certain people had that mastery of understanding technology and maybe they do. But that doesn’t necessarily mean that other people who do not understand it easily, cannot learn it very well. So, the growth mindset belief has changed significantly for me and opened up my world. And it can be for you too.

This concept of belief is so important to you going forward, please do not dismiss it as if it doesn’t matter to you because it can determine how you succeed or not succeed in life.

Let’s take a look at the actual thoughts of a growth mindset and a fixed mindset so you can build awareness. Because awareness is the beginning tool to any growth, no matter what it is you’re trying to change or develop. Growth mindset awareness thoughts are: 1-I can learn anything new, 2-My effort is the main factor that determines my abilities, 3-With each failure, I will learn and get better, 4-I think that feedback is constructive and helpful, 5-I really like to try new things.

Fixed Mindset awareness thoughts are: 1-I’m either good or I’m not, 2-My abilities are predetermined by my genes, 3-Failure shows me what I’m not good at, 4-Feedback is always criticism, 5-I don’t like to get out of my comfort zone.

Now I think all of us at one time or another have fear and don’t like leaving our comfort zones; however, a growth mindset that is developed will push through anything because the mindset person believes this might be interesting or valuable information about business, finances, or a relationship. In other words, you have to develop a new way of looking at challenges and obstacles or abrupt changes. If you don’t, you will remain stagnant and in the exact same place as you were or your relationship was, to begin with, and have no apparent growth that will be obvious or present to you. And you’ll keep telling yourself nothing has changed and blame another person or your partner or spouse instead of yourself for not taking options and making different choices. Some people continue this way their whole lives and tell themselves that they are just victims of life circumstances and bad luck.

Do not fall into that realm or cycle of blaming something other than yourself and your fears. Now as I mentioned before, it’s okay to have fears, but growth and maturity come from the pain of it and the push-through of it to the other side. Even the greatest example of perfection, Jesus Christ, had fear before He died on the Cross. Fear is a condition of humanness. And since Jesus was human and divine, His humanness showed itself, but not for very long. He met face-to-face with the greatest challenge anyone could ever have. If Jesus could have fear, then certainly we can too and we do not have to feel ashamed.

Acknowledge your fear or fears, but do not let them control or manipulate you so that you can experience life in its fullest state. This is your life, you make choices and decisions about it. It is up to you. If they do not turn out so well, it is not a defeat; on the contrary, it is an opening and an experience to something greater that may be unimaginable!

I will continue on how you can be aware of your mindset and the strategies to have a growth vs. fixed mindset in my future articles.

I appreciate that you want to learn and expand and I will honor that by giving you quality vs. quantity. Also, you may request topics in my email as well. This is Catherine Barron, Growth Mindset Coach for Mindset Unlocked at CatherineBarron.com. Have a beautiful day!