You should approach 2020 with a growth mindset. This will allow you to take on new situations in the right mindset while allowing you to grow from past situations.
Your mindset has a lot to do with how much you think you can accomplish. And how much you are actually successfully able to accomplish these task.
You should be aiming to be a lifelong learner. By cultivating a growth mindset, you are able to push yourself to always be better than you were yesterday.
As a student and/or professional, you should be continually trying to grow so that you aren’t stagnant.
By having a growth mindset you will be able to approach new challenges and setbacks and preserver to come out ahead.
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We tend to overestimate how much we can do in a day but underestimate how much we can do in a year. In this vein, it is key that we set goals and work towards them slowly but surely. Not trying to do too much on a daily basis but setting sights on what we can accomplish over a longer period of time and focusing on the essential task to get us there.
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Why Having A Growth Mindset Matters
You can either have a fixed mindset or a growth mindset.
A fixed mindset is where you think that things are just the way they are. People with this mindset think that all accomplishments that happen during life are fixed.
So you are either born great at something or not.
The problem with this sort of mindset is that you inherently think that you are good or bad at something.
This leaves you with no space to grow and learn. This should not be the mindset you want if you want to continually get better at whatever it is you are striving to accomplish.
Having a growth mindset means you believe that you can achieve success through the effort you put in.
This means that the focus of people with a growth mindset is on continually developing themselves.
Without a growth mindset you will think that you are limited by powers out of your control. This is not a good mindset to have and should be avoided at all cost.
By cultivating a growth mindset you will believe that you are able to achieve anything once you put in proportional amount of effort towards attaining that task.
Having a growth mindset means that you can develop your abilities through the right strategies. Meaning you are not limited by anything but your effort and your potential opportunities.
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How Mindsets Are Formed
Mindsets should be viewed as beliefs taken up by individuals.
This is usually formed throughout your childhood into adolescents by the experiences you have and the environment you grow up in.
This being said, mindsets can be changed throughout life as they are not static.
According to research done by Stanford University psychologist, Carol Dweck, childhood mindsets are created by two sources: praising and labeling.
Praising means that you were either praised for your ability or your effort. While labeling essentially means the judgement people placed of you.
In the research, the group of students who were praised for ability shifted their mindset into a fixed mindset. Additionally, this group rejected new challenges and avoided doing activities that would expose their weaknesses.
The research also showed that individuals with a fixed mindset feel as though they are constantly getting messages of judgement from their parents and that their traits are always being measured.
This shows that our mindsets are formed early on in life and are reinforced throughout by the experiences and interactions of others.
However, this can also be changed throughout life by the various experiences, interaction, and environments you grow up in.
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Ways To Develop A Growth Mindset
Developing a growth mindset at whichever stage in your life you are at is important for you to realize your true potential. And then to work towards it.
Here are a few ways to develop a growth mindset:
View Challenges as Opportunities
Having a growth mindset means you view new challenges as opportunities for you to learn new skills, get new experiences, and make new meaningful connections. New challenges should be viewed as opportunities to either learn or to get experience on how to tackle this similar challenge in the future.
Replace the Word “Failure” with “Learning”
Failure should not be something you try to avoid. Failure is essentially a new means for you to continual learn – no one is perfect and succeeds at everything. We all fail. What is important is how we move forward from our failures. Is it going to be something that hindered your growth or helped you learn more about yourself?
Learn From Others Mistakes
Do not ever compare yourself to others! Instead you should aim to learn from the life journeys of others. Ensure you know the journey of those in positions you want to be in someday. What have they done well? Where and how have they failed? How could you approach a similar situation differently?
Have Self-Reflection as A Cornerstone of Your Growth
Reflection is a powerful tool for us to learn more about ourselves. Do not just let life move on forward without looking back and learning from the things that you have done. Reflect on your past, on your journey and use this to facilitate your future growth.
Celebrate Growth With Others & Also Celebrate Others
We are never on journeys alone. Every single person is on a journey and therefore it is important to celebrate this growth with others – do not be shy about sharing your successes. In the other vein, ensure that you are celebrating the successes and growth of others as this will help you to appreciate what you are working towards.
Trust The Process (Over the Result)
The end result is never as fulfilling as you would like it to be. When you achieve a goal, no matter how big or small, you will realize that hitting that goal really wasn’t that big of a deal as you thought it was. That joy you felt will flee soon enough. Therefore you should aim to enjoy the process. Most successful people understand the importance of goals (and results) but there is an even greater understanding and emphasis on the process. The process is the thing that will keep you going and help you to achieve bigger and bigger goals.
Focus On Effort Over Talent
Hard work should always come before inherent skill. Remember that hard work beats talent when talent doesn’t work hard. Do not rely on your pure talent but ensure that you are working hard to better yourself and not depend on your natural skills.
Continually Make New Goals After Completing Others
Life (and learning) is a journey and you will never be done learning. Therefore you should never set goals as the end all. Goals should be guiding post to help you to continually grow and become a better professional (and personally). The point of goals is continue to set new ones as you past old ones. This will keep you stimulated and create a life where you are consistently learning and improving.
By using these you will be able to cultivate a growth mindset going into 2020 and forward. You should never settle for where you are as there is always more that we can do to feel more fulfilled.
A Growth Mindset Does Not Mean Do Everything
So many of us think we should have 50 different new year resolutions. This is actually a really bad practice.
You should by no means try to do so many different things that you are not able to accomplish the most essential task on your plate.
Though you will want to continually improve yourself both personally and professionally. It is not beneficial to set so many goals that you are not realistically able to attain them in your given timeline.
Be realistic with yourself. Don’t set resolutions or goals that you won’t be able to complete.
This is important in order to stop yourself from feeling defeated when you don’t reach these unrealistic goals. Choose goals that are essential to your 5 and 10 year plans.
Stay grounded and set fewer goals (resolutions) for yourself. When you achieve your set goals then set new goals and smash those.
Conclusion
In conclusion, mindsets are learnt through experiences and environment we all grow up in.
Although you could have a growth or fixed mindset, none of these are static and they can be changed throughout your life. It is beneficial to have a growth mindset in order to continually learn and develop yourself into the best you.
Whether you are a student or professional, you should always try to continually grow and put in effort to get the rewards you want.
Ensure you are setting goals that are attainable. You can do this by reducing the amount of goals you are trying to achieve and only when you achieve these move on and set new goals.
How are you going to cultivate a growth mindset going into 2020?
