Throughout our childhood and adulthood, we have always heard from our parents, teachers, elders, inspirational speakers etc that hard work is the key to success. Working smart is figuring out your strengths and how to utilize it in achieving your goals quickly and efficiently. An individual who utilises both these aspects can achieve their goals in life. But then we hear about exceptional individuals who have extraordinary accomplishments in their lives. Most of us tend to attribute this solely on their internal talent. However, that is not true, it takes a tremendous amount of talent and hard work to become the best in any field.
Carol Dweck a psychologist has done extensive research which indicated that an individual’s mindset or attitude towards themselves predicts your success in life. Working hard plays a role to an extent in our success, but our belief in ourselves determines whether you will achieve your goal.This gave rise to the concept known as the growth mindset. This means that we can develop our abilities and understanding by putting in more time and effort. On the opposite spectrum an individual who believes that our abilities are permanent, and intelligence cannot be increased tend to have a fixed mindset(Acherman, 2019; Taher, 2019 & “Decades of scientific”, n.d).
An individual with a growth mindset will put in more effort,time, and believe that they can reach their goals. While encountering situation such as getting a negative review from a boss or handling a difficult project, having a growth mindset will change the way we approach it. We would evaluate the review objectively, get another opinion and find solutions to overcome these shortcomings. To handle a difficult task, you would view it as a new learning experience, identify what skills you need, how to learn these skills, ask for help and look for other resources. This would lead to you developing further skills, gain new knowledge and new areas of expertise and also increase your self-confidence(Acherman, 2019; Taher, 2019 & “Decades of scientific”, n.d).
Tips for developing a growth mindset
1. Create a new convincing belief: to believe in yourself, skills, ability to have a positive change.
2. New perspective towards failure: consider it as an opportunity to learn.
3. Inculcate self-awareness: identify talents, strengths, weakness, get feedback from others and analyse it all together.
4. Always be curious and open to learning throughout your life: don’t limit your learning.
5. Accept challenges and consider them as something you will encounter every time you try to learn something new.
6. Develop a passion and do and love what you do: being passionate about your work makes you more successful in achieving your goals.
7. Be tenacious: a lot of hardwork is needed to succeed, and you must accept failures, be diligent and get back to work every time.
8. Inspire and be inspired by others (Zimmerman, 2016).
Always believe in yourself and your abilities, be always open to learn, grow, develop and it will help you achieve all the great things in life. It's not easy to have a growth mindset but work towards developing one.
References
Acherman, C. E. (2019, November 8). Growth Mindset vs. Fixed + Key Takeaways from Dweck’s Book. Positive Psychology. Retrieved from https://positivepsychology.com/growth-mindset-vs-fixed-mindset/
Mindset Works. (n.d.). Decades of scientific research that started a growth mindset revolution. Mindset Works. Retrieved from https://www.mindsetworks.com/Science/Default
Taher,R. Al. (2019, November 20). Carol Dweck: The Woman Behind The Motivational Mindset Breakthrough. Positive Psychology. Retrieved from https://positivepsychology.com/carol-dweck-biography/
Zimmerman, A. (2016). Shift to a growth mindset with these 8 powerful strategies. Inc. Retrieved from https://www.inc.com/angelina-zimmerman/the-8-tremendous-ways-for-developing-a-growth-mindset.html
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