How to Cultivate a Growth Mindset

When you take a close look at people who are successful in their careers and other areas of life, you may think they do not seem that much different from yourself, and you would be right. In fact, what makes some people more successful than others is a very thin line. In most cases, it comes down to the mindset you have regarding situations you face on a daily basis. While there is no substitute for hard work and perseverance, knowing how to cultivate a growth mindset can help you achieve more than you ever imagined. If you're ready to change your life for the better, here are some steps you can take to change your thinking and change your life.

What is a Growth Mindset?

Before you can cultivate your growth mindset, it's always good to know how a growth mindset is defined. When you have this mindset, it means you believe you are capable of developing high levels of skill and intelligence. In essence, you have the belief that success comes not only from using your existing qualities and traits, but also from continual personal development.

Determine Where You Want to Go

To achieve success and develop your growth mindset, you first need to not only examine where you are now, but also give careful thought as to where you want to go. In other words, why do you want to change? Where do you want to be one year from now, or in five or 10 years? Most of all, think hard about why you have not been as successful as you would have liked. By having an honest conversation with yourself, you are on your way to developing a growth mindset.

Build on Past Failures

To achieve future success, you first have to build on your past failures and change the way you look at failure itself. Rather than viewing a failure as your inability to do something, instead look at it as a crucial learning experience on which you can gain knowledge. Remember, even the world's greatest athletes, actors, and business leaders all suffered numerous failures along the way.

Know Your Limitations

Just as Clint Eastwood's legendary silver screen character Dirty Harry said along the way, a person has got to know their limitations. By knowing yours, this lets you set realistic goals for what you want to achieve. This lets you know that while something may not necessarily be out of your reach, it will require more effort on your part to realize success.

Be Aware of Your Thoughts and Words

Once you start becoming more aware of what you are saying and thinking each day, you will be surprised at just how much negativity may be in your brain and exiting through your mouth. For example, if you always find yourself thinking "I wouldn't be good at that" or saying "I can't" on a regular basis, you are setting yourself up to fail. Instead, cultivate your growth mindset by thinking to yourself "I'm not good at that--yet," and replace "I can't" with "I can."

View Challenges as Opportunities

When most people face challenging situations, they view them as problems. When they take this approach, they have already determined in their mind that they will likely fail. If you instead choose to view challenges as opportunities, you will be surprised at just how much you can accomplish. Using the power of positive thinking and a can-do attitude, almost any challenge can be conquered.

Celebrate the Success of Others

Yes, be happy when others achieve high levels of success. Better yet, if you get the chance to talk to them or read about their success, pay close attention to what they say. By opening up your ears, you can learn a few secrets to success.

Reflect on Your Successes and Failures

Whether it's at the beginning of your day or at the end, always give yourself a few minutes to think about what transpired in your life over the past 24 hours. When you do, you'll often find that even in the darkest situations where you feel as if you failed, you can find a positive if you look hard enough. Instead of beating yourself up verbally and psychologically, think about what you will do better the next time you face a similar situation.

Don't Give Up

Perhaps most importantly, don't give up in your quest to cultivate a growth mindset. Remember, choosing to give up is the easy way out, and will keep you exactly where you are right now. By carefully examining your skills and abilities, knowing your limitations, and having a willingness to learn from your mistakes along the way, giving up will soon not be an option.

Apply This to All Aspects of Your Life

The best thing about having a growth mindset is that the principles it’s based on can be applied to all areas of your life, including your business life, your personal life, family life and more. You can even apply it to sports endeavors and to the challenges that come to everyone over time. A growth mindset enables you to frame everything in your life in a positive way so that you are not encumbered by problems, but empowered by opportunities.

Don’t worry if this new change in thinking takes a while to “sit in.” Like any new habit, it will take time for you to cultivate your growth mindset. But as the days and weeks ahead come and go, chances are you will soon start to notice many positive changes in all the areas in your life. You may even have people coming to you and asking what your secret is!