Do you ever feel like your goals and aspirations are just out of reach? Like no matter how hard you try, you can’t seem to make the progress you desire? It’s time to take a step back and examine if a growth mindset can change things. 

Coined by renowned psychologist Carol Dweck, a growth mindset is the belief that our talents, abilities, and intelligence can be developed through effort and practice. 

By cultivating a growth mindset, you unlock your true potential, push beyond your limitations, and accomplish your goals. Sounds too good to be true? 

In this blog I’ll give you eight actionable steps to develop a growth mindset to foster continuous growth and improvement in your life. They have helped me greatly, and I hope they do the same for you. 

Are you ready to transform the way you approach goals? Let’s get to it…

First, what is a fixed mindset and is it the opposite of a growth mindset?

A fixed mindset is a belief that talents, abilities and intelligence are fixed traits and cannot be developed or improved upon, according to Carol Dweck’s research and teachings.

The key indicators of a fixed mindset: 

• Believing your abilities are predetermined and that they have limited potential for growth 
• Shying away from challenges
• Viewing failures as personal shortcomings
• Feeling threatened by the success of others

However, like most, you likely sit somewhere between a fixed and a growth mindset. There is no absolute but a fluidity to your way of thinking when it comes to pursuing goals and personal growth. 

For instance, perhaps you have talents you are developing, but seeing as progress is slow, you doubt your highest potential.

It could also be that instead of seeing a failed job or skill as a personal shortcoming, you simply didn’t have the interest to build that skill further or God/the universe had better plans for you, so you moved on to something new. 

Or if you feel threatened by the success of others, it’s likely your subconscious hinting that you’re letting yourself down in some way or that you could benefit from a lovely top-up of self-love and self-esteem (don’t we all). 

Further, being threatened by someone’s success isn’t necessarily a bad thing if it motivates you to succeed. When it turns to bitterness or resentment, this type of competitiveness is unproductive and emotionally draining. 

Ultimately, a fixed mindset can hinder personal growth, resilience and the ability to reach one’s full potential. So, as you’ve likely determined, a fixed mindset is the opposite of a growth mindset. Right now, you are likely somewhere in between. So, let’s start tilting the scales towards growth! 

8 Steps to Develop a Growth Mindset to Smash Your Goals 

1. Face challenges to build resilience

If you experience anxiety (like we all do inherently, but some more than others), embracing challenges can be difficult. 

As someone who has worked on managing my anxiety for years and chooses to expand the edges of my comfort zone to pursue goals, I’ll tell you facing challenges is no easy task.

But facing and embracing challenges helps us to minimise anxious thoughts surrounding our abilities and the future. 

Sometimes we have to face challenges head-on, such as going to an interview, speaking to someone new, taking a driving test, and other situations that can make our heart and mind race. 

By taking on challenges, we create resilience. Resilience is that wonderful quality that builds behind the scenes when we actually do what we’ve been wanting to do but have been doubting we can do (bit of a mouthful, but you get my point). 

The more resilience cultivated by expanding the edges of your comfort zone, the more you reassure yourself that you are capable. That sends positive ripples through your psyche and spills into important areas of your life, from your confidence to your levels of motivation, and willingness to learn new things, so you can grow stronger and fulfil your goals.

A similar concept can be applied to setbacks in life. We can learn to embrace them as an opportunity to bounce back stronger and motivate us to do better.

“school children with growth mindset endorsement performed with higher accuracy after mistakes (i.e., post-error accuracy).”

A recent EEG study

2. Value effort over outcome

Wouldn’t it be great if big goals could be achieved with minimal time and effort. But as you may know, every success starts from someone’s mind and is made reality through effort, hard work and perseverance. Unless you are extremely lucky and good fortune falls upon you with little effort (but my bets are on the former and most common occurrence). 

But we’re not talking about hustle culture which can lead to burnout. However, there are times when we need to work harder, such as when getting a goal off the ground, whether a new business or a fitness pursuit. It’s the “I’ll work hard now so I don’t have to later” motto. 

Success takes time, and even then, your idea of an end result can adapt as you learn and grow. What you want today can be different from what you want six months from now.

So, we need to find pleasure in the process. We need to congratulate and motivate ourselves along the way.

Intrinsic motivation has been closely tied to a growth mindset. It’s a crucial driving force behind the self-determination to fulfil a goal. A paper on the Neuroscience of a Growth Mindset and Intrinsic Motivation mentions:

“From a personal perspective, intrinsic motivation is the key substrate to learning and development.”

Moreover, “Dopamine is the predominant neurotransmitter in the brain that aids in controlling the brain’s reward and pleasure centers, as well as motivated and emotional behaviors”

Therefore, the more we train ourselves to self-reward and value the up-and-down path to goal fulfilment, we promote more attentiveness and behavioural engagement to continue. Let’s call it a cycle of success!

3. Cultivate a love for learning to cultivate a growth mindset

Our ability to learn is a key element to intrinsic motivation and ultimately the development of a growth mindset.

We all have to learn in order to grow, if that wasn’t obvious in school. But perhaps, like many others, you didn’t enjoy the classroom vibe to learning or the set subjects.

The great thing is, much of learning in order to fulfil a goal is either hands-on or cultivated through trial and error. It’s less reading books and reciting, and more learning as you go. 

However, there are definitely times when reading a book or reciting facts help towards goal fulfilment, such as when wanting to pass a test or develop a specific skill. 

We ultimately figure it out as we go by embracing the twist and turns, appreciating the lessons and developing our aptitude to enjoy learning whilst progressing towards the achievement of a goal.

4. Embrace criticism and feedback

I remember in a 3 month probation meeting at a press company I used to work for, my manager said “You are doing great, but you are very quiet”.

How did I take this criticism/feedback about my quietness? I took it to heart and it made me feel like my quiet introversion was a bad thing. 

In retrospect, I realise it wasn’t intended to be an insult. 

It would have been much more productive and emotionally beneficial for me to see it as an opportunity to build my confidence in the workplace. Also, that my manager was simply hinting he would like me to add more value by communicating with my peers and sharing my ideas more.

You see, at times when our self-consciousness is high and our self-esteem and self-confidence is low, it’s easy to react just like that. Offended. Belittled. When in fact, most people share their opinion of our work or character in hopes of encouraging positive change.

“growth-minded individuals may neutralize the affective response to negative feedback, which could be indicated by neural activation. Anterior cingulate cortex (ACC) is the region of frontal midline cortex that is related to learning and control”.

– A recent study

Thus learning to accept and embrace criticism and feedback helps us to push towards greater self-control and goal fulfilment by creating positive shifts in our neural landscape. 

5. Surround yourself with positive influences

You’ve likely heard the phrase; “Who you surround yourself with matters”. For example, have you ever spent so much time with someone you start saying the same things or acting the same way? If yes, you’ve experienced the powerful effects of behavioural synchrony.

“an essential and crucial part of the way we bond with others… the spontaneous rhythmic coordination of actions, emotions, thoughts, and physiological processes across time between two or more individuals.”

– Ilanit Gordon, Ph.D

Moreover, behavioural synchronicity can have a profound impact on our mental well-being. When we engage in synchronised behaviours with positive peers or influences, it can reshape our mindset and outlook on life. By mirroring their levels of motivation and work ethic, we start adopting a growth mindset ourselves. This shift in mindset can lead to increased optimism, resilience, and a greater belief in our ability to overcome challenges.

Their words, actions and successes will inspire you and you’ll admire their way of thinking and adaptability, and you’ll feel more motivated to pursue your goals. 

Just from reading this, i’m motivated to go to the gym to speak to some enthusiastic gym buddies (*grabs gym bag and heads for door*). 

6. Be mindful about self-talk

Self-talk is a given. Thus, the way we speak to ourselves matters, and incredibly so.

Self-talk is no issue until it digresses into a negative realm i.e self-doubt and anxious thoughts. 

If you tell yourself you can’t speak to that new person because you’ll mess up, you’ll believe it.

If you tell yourself you’re underqualified for the job, you’ll believe it. And so on.

It’s comforting in a sense to know negative self-talk originates from a traumatic event or a belief about oneself formulated overtime. Therefore, much of our negative self-talk is untrue and can be reversed. 

How do we do this? We practise changing the perceptions we have about ourselves. For more detail, read my previous blog about how to counter self-doubt and negative self-talk with mindfulness (see point 1 “Mindfulness counters self doubt”.)

Our negative self-talk can inevitably hold us back in life and prevent us from pursuing goals, which is why it’s such an important habit to break to achieve what you want in life. 

Negative self-talk won’t go away overnight, but you can build up the mental strength to counter its unproductive words and nature overtime, and that has to be worth the effort! Show that inner critic the door! 

7. Set goals and create a plan

The clearer you are with your goals, the more precise your aim. So, do it for you—sit down and set a goal. What is it, exactly? Or perhaps you have already begun your journey? Whatever the case, be exact and then create a plan.

Plans don’t have to be as precise. Because, as we covered earlier, goals can change over time as your vision deepens. 

Ideally, set smaller goals that lead to the fulfilment of a larger goal. If there is just one thing you can do today to progress towards your goal, make it your first step and priority. 

For example, if you’re looking to build a website to sell homemade candles, the first step could be to research the best website builder.

Then, tomorrow, sign up and choose a domain name. The next day, pick and tweak a website template. Next, take pictures of your products. And so on…

Momentum is important, but it doesn’t have to be fast.

A key lesson I’ve learnt during my entrepreneurship journey is that progress can be slow, but doesn’t mean you’re doing it wrong. A slow pace means you’re being more calculated. You’re weeding out possible mistakes before they happen. You’re being organised. And that’s crucial. 

Set a goal. Create a plan and keep it adaptable. Move meticulously. 

8. Practice self-reflection

Ahh… self-reflection. Sounds zen. However, that’s not always the case.

We all have light and dark parts to our psyche. Both areas benefit from contemplation and analysis.

Why do we do this? We self-reflect to gain insight into our thoughts, emotions and actions. This helps us to understand ourselves better i.e work out why we think what we think and do what we do. In turn, evaluating our choices and making improvements to foster personal growth and a deeper understanding of our values and goals.

This makes it easier to identify internal patterns hindering the development of a growth mindset.

We begin to shift the negative beliefs we have about ourselves into positive qualities.

We transform weaknesses into courage.

Use our past to foster a better future.

Show ourselves more compassion and patience. 

Change doubt into hope…

…and all that great stuff which inevitably helps us achieve our goals with more courage and determination!

Remember, developing a growth mindset is an ongoing process. It takes time and effort to shift your thinking and beliefs. Be patient with yourself and commit to continuous growth and learning. Start believing in yourself.

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