Introduction
- I thought that ability was a DNA lottery. In the US, we have an expression, “I’m not a math person.”
- We talk about genius like it is innate.
- I chose motivation and achievement as my area of research. The story I had told myself about myself my whole life was wrong.
- I did well in school because I put in the work and used the right strategies. I did the things that needed to be done to succeed in that environment.
- The single most powerful thing you can do to achieve any goal: the idea of your mindset.
Fixed Mindset
- When operating from a fixed mindset, the point of what you are doing is to prove your ability. It is the background story.
- When we think this way, we are really focused on comparing ourselves to others.
- The problem with this mindset is that it makes you vulnerable when things don’t go well. When things don’t go well, you begin to doubt your ability.
- Anxiety has effects on the brain that creates a self-fulfilling prophecy.
- We close off whole areas that we might have been successful in, found rewarding, because we’re just not that type of person.
Growth Mindset
- It’s not about proving your ability, but about improving your ability. We’re trying to develop our skills rather than demonstrate them. We are focused more on comparing against our growth rather than against another person.
- Growth mindset benefits: increased interest & enjoyment, more engaged, stretch goals, think more deeply, more creative and innovative, more likely to be gritty, persistent, resilient.
- You can see the impact on mindset on the brain level. Researchers at Columbia. Fixed mindset saw lots of activity in areas of the brain for negative emotion, little in long term learning. Growth mindset was completely opposite.
- Three strategies to change your mindset.
Notice, Then Shift
- The key to changing your mindset is to notice when you’re operating with a fixed mindset.
- Strong feelings of anxiety, dejection are signs that you are operating with a fixed mindset.
- What are you saying in the back of your mind: “I’m not good at this…” “I don’t think I can…” “This isn’t easy for me.” all clues to fixed mindset.
- The best way to shift your mindset and reorient: Carol Dweck – she adds the word YET. “I’m not good at this YET.”
- “It’s not about being good, it’s about getting better.” When you say this, the first thing that I feel is a ton of anxiety and tension roll off of me. It is reorienting to growth.
- If you do this enough, it becomes a habit.
- I cannot tell you, because no one can, how long it takes to make a habit. The way to do it is to keep repeating it.
Change Your Language
- Priming words for growth mindset: grow, progress, improve, become, develop, over time.
- I want to have healthy habits. → I want to develop healthy habits.
- I want to be a successful leader. → I want to become a successful leader.
- Research shows that when people operate with a growth mindset that they set more challenging goals for themselves.
Focus on Progress
- Snapshot thinking: where are you now? What are you thinking now?
- Instead, use the rule of three: Where were you? Where are you now? Where do you want to be?
- Where was I a year ago? Where am I now? Where do I want to be a year from now?
- Growth mindset is very contagious.
How to Encourage Growth Mindset
- Draw attention to your mistakes. That is the last thing that most leaders want to do. You give others the permission to make mistakes.
- Share stories of your past challenges.
- Focus on rewarding progress and persistence. Celebrate improvement. The person who went from terrible to okay needs to be celebrated.
- It is the most impactful thing you can do with your leadership.