That little voice in the back of your head gets quite annoying, doesn’t it?
The one that keeps throwing out doubts about whether you can really reach your career goal. The one that questions whether you’re capable. The one that says, “you’re not the kind of person who does that kind of thing.” The voice that makes you feel crappy. The voice that you hate hearing, but listen to anyway because you’re afraid it might be right.
That is the voice of the fixed mindset. It’s the voice of powerlessness.
We all have it. And we agree: that voice totally sucks.
Sure, it’s good to have an internal warning system that alerts you when you might be on the wrong track. But it’s not helpful to have a tape playing on repeat in your head that saps your motivation and makes you second-guess yourself.
We’re here to tell you that there is a way to drown that voice out.
The Other Voice
That doubting, bullying voice in our heads might never completely shut up. So how do we deal with it? By making another, more positive voice louder.
This other voice believes that we can succeed by making an effort. That we can learn what we want to. That we can improve our skills by working on them. That if something is truly important to us, we’ll have the determination to make it happen.
This is the voice of the growth mindset.
It’s not blindly optimistic. It doesn’t believe that we’re superheroes capable of anything and everything. But it does believe that we can make good things happen for ourselves, if we’re willing to put in the work.
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
This idea of growth mindset versus fixed mindset was pioneered by Dr. Carol Dweck, who published her groundbreaking book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success in 2006. In it, she writes:
“This growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience.”
The fixed mindset is quite the opposite. Rather than leading to the sort of action that creates positive change in our lives, it keeps us stuck in a rut:
“Believing that your qualities are carved in stone—the fixed mindset—creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character—well, then you’d better prove that you have a healthy dose of them.”
In a nutshell, the fixed mindset is the belief that what you were born with is what you’re stuck with. And growth mindset is the belief that you can develop your talents over the course of your life.
Lots of people are raised with a fixed mindset. They get told as children what they are and aren’t good at, that they’re “the pretty one” or “the athletic one.” Sometimes a throwaway comment from a parent who’s only half paying attention becomes part of a kid’s view of themself that stays with them into adulthood. A lot of times, that doubting voice in the back of our heads is actually repeating things we were told as kids.
But once you’re an adult, the choice is yours. Your dreams, your goals, your career, and your skills are all yours to create as you will.
Let’s face it: growing your talents is hard work. Lots of people don’t see the point, or don’t want to do what it takes.
If you’re one of the ones who believes you’re capable of more and is willing to put in the effort, nurturing a strong growth mindset will give you an amazing foundation on which to build.
Five Signs You’re Developing a Growth Mindset
So we’ve established that a growth mindset is, in itself, one of the things you can work on and improve at. But how will you know you’re on the right track?
Here are five fundamental aspects of growth mindset to look for as you move forward:
1. You’re focused on learning.
You’ll know you’re developing your growth mindset when you’re putting more mental energy toward learning new things than you are toward proving how much you already know. Instead of thinking, “I need to show how smart I am,” you’re thinking, “I want to learn and improve.” You’re not so worried about getting validation from other people, because you know that you’re going to keep getting better and better.
For example:
John, a project manager, is assigned to lead a project in a field where he doesn’t have much experience. Instead of worrying about proving himself or being perfect, he focuses on learning from experts on his team, going to training sessions, and asking for suggestions on how best to do the job. He sees this as an opportunity to grow his knowledge and skill set.
John isn’t preoccupied with looking like he knows everything. He embraces the learning process and works on acquiring new skills, rather than just completing the project quickly.
2. You believe effort leads to growth.
The day will come when you think about your goals and automatically assume, “Of course that’s gonna take some work! I’m gonna learn a lot.” because you understand that talent and intelligence are just starting points. That’s how you’ll know you’re on the right track. A growth mindset views effort as essential to success. That belief will help you push through difficult tasks, because you’ll see that persistence leads to progress.
For example:
Maria, a junior developer, is struggling with a coding problem that’s threatening her team’s a product launch. Instead of giving up or handing it off to a more experienced colleague, she dedicates extra time and effort to solving the issue, even doing an online course and consulting with peers. She understands that her continuous effort will eventually lead to mastery.
Maria recognizes that persistence and hard work are necessary to improve her coding skills, and she’s willing to put in the extra effort to achieve her goal.
3. You embrace new challenges.
When you find yourself getting excited by having a problem to solve, finding it intriguing rather than a nuisance, you’ll know you’re getting there. People who have a growth mindset see challenges as opportunities to stretch their abilities and grow. When confronted with something difficult, they don’t back down. Instead, they get curious and are willing to work through it, because they believe that the process will teach them something and make them stronger.
For example:
Rich’s manager offers him a leadership role in a high-visibility project that involves managing a larger team than he’s used to. Even though he’s nervous, he sees this challenge as a way to develop his leadership skills and grow professionally.
Instead of avoiding the role because it’s outside his comfort zone, Rich embraces the challenge. He’s confident that it will help him grow as a leader.
4. You learn from setbacks.
One of the biggest tests of a growth mindset is when things go wrong. No one succeeds on the first try, every time. The question is: how will you respond? When faced with difficulties or failures, people with a growth mindset are more resilient. They don’t see failure as a reflection of their abilities but rather as a learning experience. This helps them adapt and try again with new strategies, learning from what didn’t work.
For example:
Elena, a sales executive, misses her quarterly target due to unexpected changes in the market. Instead of feeling defeated or blaming external factors, she evaluates her strategy, gathers feedback from her clients, and revises her approach to increase her chances of success in the next quarter.
Elena views this setback as a learning opportunity and doesn’t give up. She sees failure as temporary and focuses her energy on adapting her strategy.
5. You’re open to feedback.
Once you’ve developed a growth mindset, you’re able to see that you don’t have to have all the answers. You can learn from others. In fact, that actually feels like a huge relief! Once you’re open to hearing from the people around you, even critical feedback won’t feel so threatening. We aren’t saying it will feel great to get negative comments. But you’ll be able to set your emotions aside while you figure out what you can learn from them. People who have a growth mindset are grateful for feedback because it shows them where they can improve.
For example:
Louis, a marketing specialist, presents a new campaign idea, but his team critiques it for not aligning with the company’s brand identity. Instead of becoming defensive, he takes their feedback, revises the campaign, and delivers a more refined version that is better received.
Louis accepts the feedback as part of the creative process, using it to produce better work rather than feeling threatened.
Check in with yourself as you work toward your goals. Once you start seeing these traits in yourself, you’ll know that you’ve begun to unlock the immense power of a growth mindset.
Where to Start
Changing your mindset is a process, not a switch that you can flip. More than that, your current mindset is probably a mix of fixed and growth. Maybe you love challenging yourself in some ways (like getting certifications or networking with new people), but you unconsciously assume that you can’t improve in other ways (like being bad at math or public speaking).
Here are three ways to begin working on your beliefs about yourself:
Observe your thoughts and emotions.
Self-awareness is step one. In order to change your limiting beliefs, you need to recognize that they’re there. For example, if you often think, “I’m just not good at talking to people,” your first step is to become conscious of this fixed belief and question it.
Talk back to the doubting voice.
A major part of moving from a fixed to a growth mindset is reframing negative or limiting self-talk. Instead of thinking, “I can’t do this,” you can practice saying, “I can’t do this yet, but I can improve with practice.” The word “yet” is really powerful in encouraging growth because it reminds you that you’ve got the potential to do better.
Start with small wins.
Try taking on small challenges at first. When you see results, it will show you that your efforts pay off. This will help reinforce the idea that improvement is possible. You’ll be amazed at how fast these small successes will convince you that you can grow.
Conclusion
Believing that you are capable of growing, learning, and improving is the first step to making your career goals a reality. Be patient with yourself! And be kind. The simple fact that you want to give this a shot puts you well beyond the average person who just wants to be comfortable in life.
Take it one step at a time. Don’t waste energy feeling bad when you fall short of your own expectations. As the song says, just pick yourself up, dust yourself off, and start all over again.
