A fixed mindset is a limiting belief mindset, but don’t worry! You can develop a growth mindset with these tips!
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I think 2020 has left many people reconsidering some of their life choices. I hope you are! Or maybe I hope you’re not?
What I mean by that is, I know that I spent a while living a life that was not meant for me and brought me little happiness. So I hope that you are happy but I also hope that you’re searching for how to improve your life even more. If so, great! You are in the right place!
What is a fixed mindset?
A fixed mindset that is stuck in its ways. with little desire to grow, change, or see a different point of view. They say that as you age your personality becomes more fixed, and in a way that is right and wrong. While your personality has been proven to have minimal change, as in your reactions to things are initially the same. You can, however, adapt your reactions.
What does that mean though? That means that even though your reaction is one thing, you can choose to not follow through. Imagine you are immediately angered by something, that’s your gut reaction, you can’t change it. However, with time, you can choose to not act on that anger. That’s how your personality can remain the same but you can grow, make sense?
When discussing a fixed mindset though, that reaction and the subsequent behavior remain the same. Over time, there is no variation. Once you react that way, you always react that way. And furthermore, you have zero reason to change that behavior.
So how do you ‘grow’ a growth mindset?
Well, if you’re here there is good news! Chances are that you already have a growth mindset or an interest in having one. The reason for this being that if you didn’t, you wouldn’t have thought to look it up in the first place. Pretty simple, right?
A fixed mindset doesn’t think that there is anything to change with their mindset! And maybe there isn’t, it’s all about perspective. Cultivating a growth mindset though requires an open-mindedness to being with. So your being here is great news!
Second to having an open mind is nourishing it. Which you are doing this very moment! Continuing your education on your mindset and feeding your brain with information to expand it and delight it further is all you need to do!
Barriers of a fixed mindset.
Some of the reasons we stay stuck in a fixed mindset are fear and ignorance. They say that ignorance is bliss, but that’s always a double-edged sword. While it may be blissful to not know all of the things, you can also miss out on some of life’s greatest pleasures!
Take, for example, Sally. Sally is a make-believe woman who grew up following the rules and doing all of the things her parents and society pushed on her. She graduated, got married, had babies, and is now middle-aged and has never been more than 3 hours from her hometown. Sure, she is happy and satisfied with what is, and she doesn’t even know she’s missing anything.
But she’s never seen the sunrise at the easternmost point in the contiguous United States. Never laid on the beach in southern California, saw the Redwoods to the north, or the geysers erupt in Yellowstone. Maybe she wouldn’t care to in the first place, but she doesn’t know what she doesn’t know and she can be content.
Barriers to a growth mindset.
That same fear and ignorance can keep you stuck with a fixed mindset is the same for a growth mindset, for many reasons. While you don’t know what you don’t know, sometimes it’s what you do know that frightens you. You know that when you travel the country you may come across bad neighborhoods. But it’s also ignorant to not go just because the going might get tough.
And never mind the societal pressures. What would everyone think if you decided to travel the country for three months? Or what would people think if you went for that entrepreneurial journey you’ve been dreaming of?
When it all comes down to it, having a growth mindset means allowing yourself to feel the fear, and do it anyway! But you will never grow if you don’t know that it’s out there.
So I encourage you, friend, to go out there and get the life you dream about!
Grab my Money-Making Mom Toolkit here!
P.S. Mindset by Carol A. Dweck is a great starting point for adjusting your point of view I definitely suggest checking it out!
Great post! We all can have tendencies to be narrowminded and have that fixed mindset at times, so these are great tips to use to see the bigger picture.
So true, I do feel like I’ve been in a set mindset more so the past few years, learning how to let that go and the fear of what others think. Thanks for sharing.