What does it mean to have a growth mindset? (2024)

FAQs

What does it mean to have a growth mindset? ›

A growth mindset is when you believe that your skills, abilities, and intelligence can be developed through curiosity, learning, and discipline. By believing that you can change and grow, you can help drive better outcomes.

In recent research , my colleagues and I found that having a growth mindset isn't enough to overcome the messages sent by performance-centric settings.

Growth mindset means the ability to learn from your mistakes and to improve on them. For example, if one was to fail at something, they would try many new ways to prevent themselves from failing again. He/she would try harder to improve their skills in which they can improve their chances of doing better.

One of the biggest differences between these two mindsets is how one handles mistakes and criticism. Someone with a growth mindset sees mistakes as a learning opportunity and openly accepts criticism because they believe it will help them grow. Someone with a fixed mindset often gives up and takes criticism personally.

Fixed Mindset: If I don't try new or hard things, then I won't fail. Growth Mindset: I have to try new and difficult things in order to grow, even if I fail at first.

Students with a growth mindset often persist despite failure and are more likely to see failure as a steppingstone in the learning process. The result of a growth mindset can be reaching higher levels of achievement than peers with fixed mindsets, who often plateau early and achieve less than their full potential.

The power of a growth mindset lies in its ability to reshape how we perceive challenges, setbacks, and failures. Rather than viewing them as indications of our limitations or inadequacies, those with a growth mindset see them as opportunities for growth and learning.

Individuals who demonstrate a fixed mindset think their abilities are limited. On the other hand, people with a growth mindset understand that challenges allow them to develop their abilities and look at them as opportunities to learn.

If you believe that you can improve your abilities through effort and conscious, deliberate practice (growth mindset), you focus on learning and growing and getting better rather than trying to prove how great you are. You learn from “mistakes” and “failures” rather than letting them define you.

Alternatively, people with a growth mindset believe that skills and qualities are things that can be cultivated through effort and perseverance. A growth mindset, Dweck asserts, empowers people to believe they can develop their abilities — brains and talent are just the starting point.

What does growth mean to you? ›

To grow as a person means to mature, improve or expand your life in some way. For example, you can grow intellectually by learning new things, and grow emotionally by becoming more confident and secure or improving your physical and mental health.

Simply put, a growth mindset is believing that your brain can grow and you can learn many new things. You are not born smart; you become smart. A fixed mindset is quite the opposite. It is believing that you cannot learn new things.

In contrast, people with a growth mindset embrace challenges, see failure as a stepping stone to mastery, and believe that their potential is unlimited. They are not deterred by setbacks, but see them as stepping stones to growth and mastery.

Someone with a growth mindset believes if they work hard, they can attain what they want to, even if their natural talents are not the same as someone else's. A person with a growth mindset also believes intelligence and basic abilities can change over time with the right effort.