Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: Exploring the Differences

You’re faced with a challenge that you haven’t been able to solve for the last few days.

Do you give up and walk away thinking you’re not good enough when you can’t solve it right away? Or do you keep trying until you figure out a solution to the problem that you are dealing with?

Which one would you choose?

If you do the first, you have a fixed mindset. If you do the second, you have a growth mindset.

Curious to learn more? Keep reading to understand more about a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset. 

Growth Mindset

A growth mindset is one that a person has if they feel they can grow their knowledge and characteristics over time. This is the type of mindset where people believe that with practice, dedication, and patience, you can get better at something.

Someone with a growth mindset sees failure as a way to learn, not as a way of being unsuccessful. Instead of giving up, this person would figure out why they failed in order to do better next time.

Benefits of a Growth Mindset

There are a ton of benefits of a growth mindset when it comes to human motivation. Human motivation stems from those with a growth mindset. They find enjoyment in challenges and want to motivate themselves to do something more.

People who embrace a growth mindset also avoid burnout more easily. Because of this, this also keeps them from dealing with more psychological problems like depression and anxiety.

The more a person feels they are in control of changing their mindset, the less likely they are to deal with mental issues and mental health problems. They will also experience behavioral problems less (although this has to do with children more than adults).

What Are People With a Growth Mindset Like?

People with a growth mindset know how to motivate themselves, so if you know how to motivate yourself and can do it all on your own, you most likely have a growth mindset.

People with this mindset also are more likely to love learning and believe that the more they learn, the more they will improve. They are also more likely to believe that they can manifest what they want out of life.

They also believe:

• Effort is important
• Failure can lead to success 
• Enjoy getting feedback to improve 
• Willingly embrace challenges

Those that have a growth mindset will put in the effort, don’t mind failing, and will always be searching to grow mentally, physically, and emotionally.

Fixed Mindset

A fixed mindset occurs when no matter what, a person believes that their talents and knowledge are “fixed.” If they try to change that, nothing will happen. If they try to get better at a sport or a hobby, they may not be able to.

A fixed mindset says that you are fixed where you are with your talents and intelligence – that you cannot grow even if you try.

Someone with a fixed mindset may be threatened by other people’s success because they do not feel like they are good enough to succeed like that person. They may also avoid challenges that they do not think they could do.

If this person fails, they attribute it to the fact that they just aren’t smart enough.

Downsides of a Fixed Mindset

Someone with a fixed mindset deals with a lot of disadvantages on a daily basis because they are not realizing their true potential.

For instance, someone with a fixed mindset will avoid failure, which means they will also avoid challenges in their life which means they’ll never grow as a person or learn anything new. They’ll refuse to put in the effort to get better at something because they don’t see the point – they’re born with their talents and can’t change them even with effort.

What Are People With a Fixed Mindset Like?

If you are wondering if you or someone else you know has a fixed mindset, there are a few telltale signs. Here are a few:

• Constantly saying stuff like “I’m not creative” or “I’m bad at numbers” or anything else like that
• Avoid challenges
• When dealing with a failure, thinking or saying, “I’m not good at this”

Fixed mindsets make people believe they will never be better than they are in this moment.

Can You Change Mindsets?

So are people’s mindsets set in stone, or can they change?

The brain has a lot of flexibility and plasticity when it comes to growing and changing over time. This means that someone’s mindset can change throughout life. Even if someone has a growth mindset already, that growth mindset can become even stronger five years down the road.

In order to change to have a growth mindset, you can follow a few steps to help:

1. Know that science proves your brain can change
2. Practice a growth mindset inner talk every day
3. Get feedback and be comfortable with being uncomfortable
4. Always accept failure because it will only help you grow more

With these steps, you can change a fixed mindset into a growth mindset.

A Growth Mindset vs. a Fixed Mindset 

Learning to love yourself and challenge yourself is a process. But part of that process involves having a growth mindset to get there.

With this article, you now know the differences between a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset and what you need to do to change your mindset and keep growing.

If you are ready to continue with self-love and transform yourself into your best possible version, Jarrad wants to help! His 3 Days of Abundance, Love, and Healing course will help show you exactly what you’ve been missing.

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