Do you have a growth mindset?
Photo by Yann Allegre on Unsplash
This week I watched Andrew learn how to snowboard for the first time. He took a few lessons at Hoedown Hill - a small learning hill near our air BNB in Windsor - and then we took on Vail Mountain. I am impressed, not by how quickly Andrew picked up snowboarding, but by his willingness to even try. There are many people who reach a certain age and they become set in their ways; they embrace an “old dogs can’t learn new tricks” attitude and then that’s it, they stop learning, they stop changing, and they stop growing.
My father is another person who has impressed me in this area - not because he decided to learn how to snowboard - but because he continues to keep his mind open to learning and growing. He sees things that probably appear odd to him, someone in his late 70s who grew up in a very different time, but instead of laughing at it or dismissing it, he is curious; he asks questions and tries to understand the next generation.
These qualities are the result of having a growth mindset. Whether we are open to learning new skills like snowboarding or embracing new ideologies, a growth mindset is the belief that you can - at any age - learn and grow.
In my book, the Impossible Box, I talk about this in the introduction because anyone who wants to achieve big and seemingly impossible things must first believe that we are not set in our ways - no matter what age we are and no matter what our history tells us.
In her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck references countless studies proving the existence of two mindsets: a growth mindset and fixed mindset. Before I give you any definitions, let’s try her exercise to see which side of the spectrum you trend toward. Read the following statements and note whether you agree or disagree with them:
• Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can’t change much.
• You can learn new things, but you can’t really change how intelligent you are.
• No matter how much intelligence you have, you can always change it quite a bit.
• You can always substantially change how intelligent you are.
If you agree with statements one and two, then you are showing signs of a fixed mindset. Those with a fixed mindset believe that your intelligence cannot change; whatever IQ you were born with is what you get, and you can only study so hard before you reach your plateau. If you agree with statements three and four, then you are showing signs of a growth mindset. Those with a growth mindset believe that time studying and learning doesn’t just teach you new things, but you can expand your capability to learn and grow.
The next time someone presents something new you to - whether it be a new ideology or a new skill you haven't mastered - try to embrace a growth mindset. Your IQ, your capabilities, your skills and talents are never done growing so embrace growth and don't limit yourself based on your previous experiences.
