If you follow any entrepreneurs, business coaches, or life coaches on social media you’ve probably heard about growth mindsets. Everyone loves talking about the value of a growth mindset and why you need to have one if you ever want to make it as an entrepreneur or business owner.
Well, they’re not wrong.
A growth mindset will take you far in whatever you do. But no one ever talks about the other side of the coin—a fixed mindset—and how you can transition from that into a growth mindset. So let’s talk about it.
Fixed vs. growth mindsets
First of all, what is a growth mindset? And what is the alternative?
A growth mindset is when you truly believe that you can achieve all of the goals and skills you desire through hard work and perseverance.
Essentially, this is like the saying “you can do anything if you put your mind to it.” (Spoiler alert: It’s true!)
A fixed mindset is when you believe you’re born with the skills you have and you can never move past them.
This is like someone who grows up around poverty and just assumes they’ll never be rich. Or they are under the impression that they’re simply not smart or not talented. Obviously, this is not a good mindset to have. (It’s also not true!)
There seems to be a common misunderstanding that people are either born with a growth mindset or a fixed mindset, and there’s no way to change between the two. I can’t, for the life of me, understand why someone would think that—but they do.
I’m here to tell you that is not the case. Your mindset is something that you can change over time. It’s not something you’re born with—it’s something you’re taught. So, let’s look at how I transitioned from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and how you can do the same.
Changing your mindset
When I was growing up, I had a fixed mindset. Looking back on it, the reason I had a fixed mindset is because everyone around me also had fixed mindsets. I just thought that’s how I was supposed to think.
I felt like I wasn’t naturally smart or talented enough to be successful. For example, I never thought I could become a millionaire. That was just crazy to me because I was always surrounded by people who were struggling with money. So I just assumed that I was in the same boat! I truly believed I’d never be able to move beyond that.
It wasn’t until I dove into real estate that I realized I needed to acquire a growth mindset (and that my old fixed mindset made no sense). Because when I first got into real estate, I wasn’t good at it.
Seriously, I wasn’t good at any part of real estate. I wasn’t good at talking to people, selling, or analyzing deals. I wasn’t good at math so the financial side of real estate felt impossible for me to understand.
But I soon realized that there were things I could do to change that. I could learn all of those things! I started reading, studying, and working hard. And guess what? I noticed that I was getting better!
And it was at that point that my mindset switched from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Once I understood that I was capable of learning and acquiring new skills through hard work and perseverance, I was set. I had the whole world in front of me and I was ready to make it happen.
You can always change your mindset. It doesn’t matter how old you are, how smart you are, or where you’ve come from in life. You can always change it.
And when you take on a growth mindset, you’ll start to realize what you’re truly capable of.
Have you seen the value of a growth mindset? Do you feel like you have one?