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How to develop a growth mindset πŸͺ΄

How to develop a growth mindset

How to develop a growth mindset –

Introduction πŸ‘‹

Did you know that your brain is kind of like a muscle, that can be trained? πŸ§ πŸ‹οΈ

Psychologists believe that you can actually grow your brain to become smarter, and more successful. 🌱

This idea is based on a scientific study about rats. 🐁

The study showed that rats who were given puzzles, grew smarter, bigger brains than rats that didn’t train their brains. πŸ€πŸ’ͺ🧠🧩

Some scientists believe that if you train your brain to think a certain way, you can:

  • Achieve more πŸ†
  • Improve your test grades πŸ…
  • Increase your wellbeing πŸ’–

This brain training, is called developing a growth mindset.πŸͺ΄

The growth mindset is an idea that was introduced by Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success (2006). πŸ“–πŸ§ 

Today we’re going to explain how you can develop a growth mindset, to increase your chances of success. ✨

What is a growth mindset? πŸͺ΄

People with a growth mindset:

  • Are adaptable πŸ› οΈ
  • Solve problems πŸ€”
  • Love learning πŸ€“
  • Are creative 🎨
  • See things positively β˜€οΈ
  • Are strong πŸ’ͺ
  • See hard work as important πŸ‹οΈβ€β™€οΈ
  • Don’t give up πŸ₯‡
  • Listen to others πŸ‘‚
  • Are keen to grow and improve themselves πŸͺ΄

These traits are commonly found and researched in people who are successful. πŸ†

Working on developing these traits for yourself, can help you to become more successful too. 🀩

Growth mindset vs. fixed mindset πŸͺ΄πŸ§±

The opposite of a growth mindset is a fixed mindset. 🧱

People with a fixed mindset:

  • Give up easily πŸšͺπŸƒβ€β™€οΈπŸ’¨
  • Avoid challenging situations πŸ™ˆ
  • Get jealous of other people πŸ˜’
  • See hard work as pointless πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ
  • Feel threatened by other people’s success πŸ†
  • Don’t listen to others πŸ™‰
  • Think that people can’t change – you’re either good, or bad at thingsπŸ™…β€β™€οΈ

This type of mindset can reduce your chances of success. πŸ“‰

Developing a growth mindset can help you to avoid having a fixed mindset, and increase your chances of success. πŸͺ΄

How to develop a growth mindset 🧠

1. See your brain as something you can grow πŸͺ΄

People with a fixed mindset believe that your intelligence is fixed – you’re either smart, or not smart. βœ…βŒ

If you see your brain as “fixed”, you’re not going to feel motivated to learn and become smarter! πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Instead, see your brain as something that can change and grow through experiences, education, and hard work. πŸͺ΄πŸŒ±

Treat your brain like a muscle, the more we use them the stronger they get. 🧠πŸ’ͺ

And just like muscles, our brain needs exercise in order to keep growing. πŸ‹οΈ

2. Get excited to learn πŸ€“

Learning is the best way to grow your brain. πŸ’ͺ

Don’t be afraid of learning experiences! 😍

People with a fixed mindset can often feel intimidated by not knowing things, or being new to learning experiences.

To have a growth mindset, you should search for, and soak up as much learning as you can from the world. πŸ”ŽπŸŒŽπŸ§½

The more you try to learn, the more intelligent you can become. πŸ€“

You should never avoid trying something new just because you might be bad at it! πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Part of having a growth mindset it being good at being bad at things – it’s the only way you can get better! πŸͺœπŸ”️

3. View challenges as a good thing πŸ‹οΈ

Get comfortable with being uncomfortable! 😬

Naturally we tend to avoid challenging situations, because they feel uncomfortable. 😩

However, if you’re comfortable, you’re probably not learning anything or improving yourself. πŸ‘©β€πŸ«

Challenges should always be seen as a chance to learn and improve yourself! 😊

Try and challenge yourself every day to get out of your comfort zone! πŸ§—β€β™€οΈ

Even if you fail, challenging yourself will be an amazing learning experience for your brain. πŸ€“

4. Enjoy the journey πŸ›€οΈ

Whilst it’s great to have goals, and things you want to achieve, enjoying the journey is the most important. 🏞️

Did you know that a lot of football players quit after finally getting hired by big teams? ⚽πŸ₯…

This is because they were only motivated by the goal of making the team – they didn’t actually enjoy the everyday challenge of football! πŸƒβ€β™€οΈπŸ‘Ÿ

If you don’t enjoy the journey, it’s a lot harder to achieve your goals. πŸ—ΊοΈ

For example, if you have an exam to study for, don’t focus on your grade (the goal). πŸ†

Focus on making the studying journey fun, to increase your chances of getting a better grade! πŸ›€οΈ

If studying is fun, you’re going to be far more motivated to do it regularly. πŸ’ƒ

If you can find motivation in the everyday challenges you face, you’re far more likely to continue to be successful. πŸ†

5. Make failure your friend πŸ€—

When you look at someone who is successful, it’s easy to think that they’ve probably never failed at anything. πŸ…

In reality, people who are successful, usually fail the most! πŸ‘Ž

Did you know that JK Rowling (author of the Harry Potter series), failed to get her book published 12 times, before someone agreed to publish it? πŸͺ„πŸ§Ή

Imagine if she’d given up after failing just once, or even 11 times! πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

There would be no Harry Potter! πŸ˜±πŸ§™β€β™‚οΈπŸͺ„

How many times would you retry something if you failed? ⌚

Would you redo a test after failing it 12 times? πŸ”

The more you feel good about failing, the more likely you are to try again, and succeed. πŸ†πŸ’–

To have a growth mindset, you should see failure as a good thing, it shows that you’re putting yourself out of your comfort zone, trying new things, and growing your brain. πŸ™ŒπŸŽ‰πŸͺ΄

6. Pick everyone’s brains 🧠

When you’ve got a fixed mindset, you might be scared or annoyed to hear other people’s opinions. 🀫

People with growth mindsets love getting feedback and hearing what other people think, because it helps them to grow. πŸͺ΄πŸŒ±

7. Don’t be jel – let others inspire you ✨

When you’ve got a fixed mindset it can be so easy to look at other people’s achievements and get jealous! πŸ˜’

You might find yourself thinking things like:

“They’re just lucky” πŸ€

or “They’re so much better than me” 🌠

Having a growth mindset means that you should use other people to inspire you, not to make you feel bad about yourself! πŸ€©πŸ™Œ

Instead you should think things like:

“Wow, I’d love to learn from them.” πŸ˜ƒ

or “I’m going to try and work as hard as them!” πŸ’ͺ

You can use other people’s success to help you grow and improve yourself. πŸͺ΄

8. Embrace your flaws πŸͺž

It can be easy to feel embarrassed where you have flaws, or you’re not good at something.😟

Having a growth mindset is all about being the best that you can be. 🌟

If you’re bad at something, great! πŸŽ‰

Flaws are an opportunity to learn – something you can have fun trying to improve. πŸ‘©β€πŸŒΎπŸ“ˆ

Don’t feel guilty for needing to improve yourself. πŸ’–

Everyone has flaws! πŸ€·β€β™€οΈ

Look for ways that you can improve yourself, to grow your brain and become more successful. 🧠πŸͺ΄

9. Don’t give up! – Use the power of “yet”πŸš΅β€β™€οΈ

It can be easy to beat yourself up when you can’t do something. πŸ₯Š

You might find yourself thinking –

“I can’t do this!” 😟

or “I’m not good at this”. 😒

Instead of letting yourself feel bad – think this instead! 🧠

“I can’t do this — yet!” πŸ™Œ

or “I’m not good at this — yet!” πŸ’ͺ

Don’t put too much pressure on yourself – give yourself the space to learn and grow. πŸͺ΄

You might not be able to do things now, but eventually you will! 😁

10. Flip your fixed thoughts πŸ”

Having a “fixed” thoughts can be a huge setback to achieving your goals. πŸ‘Ž

Keep an eye out when you’re thinking “fixed” thoughts, and flip them into something more positive! πŸ‘€β˜€οΈ

For example:

  • “I’m not good at maths.” ➑️➑️➑️ “I can get better at maths!” βž•βž—
  • “I give up.” ➑️➑️➑️ “I won’t give up!” πŸ’ͺπŸƒβ€β™€οΈ
  • “I’m amazing at everything.” ➑️➑️➑️ “There’s always room for improvement!” πŸͺœπŸ’ƒ
  • “They’re so much smarter than me.” ➑️➑️➑️ “Wow, their intelligence is inspiring” ✨
  • “I can’t change.” ➑️➑️➑️ “I’m going to change!” πŸŒ±πŸ¦‹
  • “I don’t understand.” ➑️➑️➑️ “If I work hard, I’ll be able to understand!” πŸ§ πŸ€“
  • “This is difficult.” ➑️➑️➑️ “If this is difficult, I’m going to learn so much from it!” πŸ“–πŸ‘©β€πŸ«

Conclusion πŸ‘

So that’s it!

You can develop a growth mindset by:

  1. See your brain as something you can grow πŸͺ΄
  2. Get excited to learn πŸ€“
  3. View challenges as a good thing πŸ‹οΈ
  4. Enjoy the journey πŸ›€οΈ
  5. Make failure your friend πŸ€—
  6. Pick everyone’s brains 🧠
  7. Don’t be jel – let others inspire you ✨
  8. Embrace your flaws πŸͺž
  9. Don’t give up! – Use the power of β€œyetβ€πŸš΅β€β™€οΈ
  10. Flip your fixed thoughts πŸ”

If you know any friends or family members who might benefit from learning about growth mindsets, share this post with them!

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