- An individual with a growth mindset believes their intelligence and talents can be developed over time. Conversely, an individual with a fixed mindset believes their intelligence and talents are fixed traits that cannot be developed. The two mindsets were developed by American psychologist Carol Dweck while studying human motivation.
- Both mindsets are comprised of conscious and subconscious thought patterns established at a very young age. In adult life, they have profound implications for personal and professional success.
- Individuals with a growth mindset devote more time and effort to achieving difficult goals and by extension, are less concerned with the opinions or abilities of others. Individuals with a fixed mindset are sensitive to criticism and may be preoccupied with proving their talents to others.
| Aspect | Growth Mindset | Fixed Mindset |
|---|---|---|
| Beliefs About Abilities | – Believes that abilities and intelligence can be developed and improved through effort, learning, and persistence. – Embraces challenges and views failures as opportunities to learn and grow. | – Believes that abilities and intelligence are largely fixed traits, predetermined at birth or early in life. – Avoids challenges to protect self-esteem and sees failure as a reflection of inadequacy. |
| View of Effort | – Values and embraces effort as a path to mastery and improvement. – Sees effort as a necessary and positive part of the learning process. | – May view effort as pointless if abilities are fixed. – Tends to avoid effort to avoid potential failure or embarrassment. |
| Response to Challenges | – Welcomes challenges and views them as opportunities for growth and development. – Maintains resilience in the face of setbacks and setbacks. | – Avoids challenges to maintain a sense of competence and avoid the possibility of failure. – May become anxious or defensive in the face of challenges. |
| View of Failure | – Sees failure as a natural part of the learning process. – Views mistakes and failures as opportunities to learn, adapt, and improve. | – Tends to perceive failure as a reflection of one’s inherent inadequacy. – May feel shame, embarrassment, or disappointment in the face of failure. |
| Response to Criticism | – Accepts constructive criticism as a means of growth and development. – Values feedback and uses it to improve. | – May become defensive or dismissive in response to criticism, as it threatens the self-image of competence. – May avoid situations where criticism is possible. |
| Persistence and Resilience | – Demonstrates persistence and resilience in the face of challenges and setbacks. – Continues to pursue goals and learning despite obstacles. | – May give up easily when faced with challenges or setbacks. – Tends to avoid situations where failure is a possibility. |
| Long-Term Goals | – Sets and pursues long-term goals with a focus on continuous improvement. – Embraces the journey of learning and development. | – May set conservative goals or avoid setting goals altogether to prevent potential failure. – Focuses on maintaining existing competence. |
| Success and Achievement | – Associates success and achievement with effort, learning, and growth. – Celebrates personal development and progress. | – May associate success with inherent talent or luck rather than effort. – May not fully appreciate achievements and focus on avoiding failure instead. |
| Openness to Learning | – Maintains a sense of curiosity and a willingness to learn new things. – Values learning and sees it as a lifelong pursuit. | – May resist learning or trying new things that challenge existing competence. – May have a fixed mindset even in specific domains. |
| Similarities | – Both mindsets influence attitudes and behaviors related to learning, achievement, and personal development. – Both mindsets can coexist in different areas of life. | – Both mindsets reflect core beliefs about abilities and influence responses to challenges and setbacks. – Both can be influenced and changed over time. |
| Differences | – Growth Mindset emphasizes the potential for growth, development, and adaptability. – Fixed Mindset emphasizes the stability and limitations of one’s abilities. – Growth Mindset embraces challenges and failures, while Fixed Mindset may avoid them. | – Fixed Mindset tends to maintain a static view of abilities and may avoid challenges and failures to protect self-esteem. – Growth Mindset values effort, learning, and resilience as pathways to improvement. |
| When Observed | – Often observed in individuals who are open to learning, value effort, and seek personal development. – Common among individuals who embrace challenges and view failures as opportunities for growth. | – Often observed in individuals who fear failure, avoid challenges, and have a strong desire to maintain a sense of competence. – Common among those who are resistant to change or new experiences. |
What are a growth mindset and a fixed mindset?
Individuals with a growth mindset believe their intelligence and talents can be developed over time.
They are willing to tackle challenges and have a passion for learning.
Conversely, individuals with a fixed mindset believe their intelligence and talents are fixed traits that cannot be developed.
They tend to avoid challenges and give up easily.
Understanding growth and fixed mindsets
The idea of growth and fixed mindsets was first introduced by American psychologist Carol Dweck, a leading expert in human motivation.
Approximately three decades ago, Dweck wanted to know why some children sought out challenges while others avoided failure at all costs. She began studying the traits of each group, describing her work as follows:
“My work bridges developmental psychology, social psychology, and personality psychology, and examines the self-conceptions (or mindset) people use to structure the self and guide their behaviour. My research looks at the origins of these mindsets, their role in motivation and self-regulation, and their impact on achievement and interpersonal processes.”
This work was later synthesized into a 2007 book entitled Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
In the book, the reader is encouraged to consider how their conscious and unconscious thoughts affect what they want and whether they will succeed in attaining it.
Dweck suggested that altering even the simplest of these thoughts or beliefs could profoundly impact nearly every aspect of life.
One of the most fundamental of these beliefs pertains to how the individual views and inhabits what they consider to be their personality.
A fixed mindset assumes our personality is fixed, while a growth mindset considers personality to be fluid, dynamic, and evolving.
These beliefs are developed very early and have significant implications for personal and professional success.
Characteristics of growth and fixed mindsets
The main difference between each mindset is the belief in the permanence of intelligence and one’s own ability.
A growth mindset considers these factors to be changeable in either direction.
In other words, there is potential for improvement and regression – with the latter used as a means of improvement through learning from mistakes.
A fixed mindset considers there to be little room for neither improvement or regression.
With that said, here are a few qualities that differentiate the two mindsets.
An individual with a growth mindset:
- Perseveres after experiencing failure or rejection.
- Finds inspiration in the success of others.
- Considers criticism a valuable tool for personal development.
- Has an interest and willingness to learn.
- Persists in overcoming obstacles.
On the other hand, an individual with a fixed mindset:
- Wants to prove their intelligence or talent with no desire to improve it.
- Avoids challenging circumstances for fear of failure.
- Treats criticism as a personal attack and in so doing, ignores valuable feedback.
- Feels threatened by the success of others.
- Gives up easily in situations requiring hard work, stamina, persistence, or dedication.
Growth Mindset: My Personal Experience
As a digital entrepreneur who has built an online media business, I can share my experience.
When I started blogging a few years back, I had a very low tolerance for failure, as I identified with it.
However, over time, as I experimented more and more, I learned to make failure part of the process.
In other words, today, I have a workflow where I need to experiment, execute and iterate very quickly to stay on top of my game.
This has led me to various mistakes and many failures over the years.
While failing is not pleasing at all. Over time, I learned that this is part of the growth process.
And the most interesting part?
Some of the mistakes I’ve made led me to challenge many of the assumptions I had.
In short, thanks to a fast process of iterations, I often ended up making – what I thought – were mistakes that instead turned into successful – and counter-intuitive – tactics!
That is the most incredible part of the growth process.
As you learn to structure it in a way that you know that failure will happen. As you make many – hopefully minor – mistakes along the way.
A small percentage of these mistakes will turn into incredible and valuable lessons you could have not learned otherwise.
Take, for example, the process of what I like to define as SEO Hacking, which I used years back to grow this blog.
Fixed Mindset: How Did I Overcome it?
Back in the 2010s, as I finished my studies as a lawyer, I undertook my MBA as I wanted to shift path.
At the time, I mainly had a fixed mindset, I was in my early 20s and would take most of the failure as something personal.
It took me years to reshape my thinking.
And this process started when I was in San Diego, California, working as an analyst in 2013, and I started to learn about neuroplasticity.
At the time, I learned that our brain, based on the context and how much we’re motivated to accomplish something, can be re-wired.
Thus, I managed to build a growth mindset that, these days, helps me build processes in whatever business endeavors I get into.
Today I understand that to grow, you need to build playbooks, workflows, and processes and keep developing your way and style of doing things.
For that, look at my idea generation guide.
Examples of Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset Scenarios:
- Handling Criticism:
- Growth Mindset: Jane received feedback on her project proposal. She took the constructive criticism on board, made revisions, and improved the overall quality.
- Fixed Mindset: John received similar feedback but took it personally, believing he simply wasn’t good at creating proposals.
- Facing Challenges:
- Growth Mindset: Lisa encountered a problem she hadn’t faced before. She viewed it as a learning opportunity and sought resources to overcome it.
- Fixed Mindset: Mark faced a similar challenge and avoided it, thinking he wasn’t naturally good at that sort of task.
- Learning New Skills:
- Growth Mindset: Sarah wanted to learn a new language. Despite initial struggles, she persisted, believing her language abilities weren’t fixed.
- Fixed Mindset: Alex tried learning an instrument but gave up quickly, thinking he wasn’t a “musical person.”
- Experiencing Failure:
- Growth Mindset: Emily’s startup didn’t succeed. She analyzed her mistakes, learned from them, and started a new venture with those lessons in mind.
- Fixed Mindset: Tom’s business also faced challenges. He concluded he wasn’t cut out for entrepreneurship and never tried again.
- Comparing with Peers:
- Growth Mindset: When Ryan saw his colleague succeed, he was inspired and asked for tips and strategies to improve his own performance.
- Fixed Mindset: When Kevin saw his colleague’s success, he felt threatened and believed he just didn’t have the same innate talent.
- Approaching Difficult Subjects:
- Growth Mindset: Naomi struggled with math. However, she sought help, practiced regularly, and believed she could improve with effort.
- Fixed Mindset: Derek also found math hard and assumed he’d always be bad at it, so he didn’t put in extra effort.
- Dealing with Change:
- Growth Mindset: Sophia faced major changes at her workplace. She embraced the change, believing she could adapt and grow with the new environment.
- Fixed Mindset: Ethan resisted the same changes, thinking he just wasn’t cut out for the new system.
- Setting Goals:
- Growth Mindset: Clara set challenging goals for herself, knowing they’d push her to grow, even if she didn’t fully achieve them.
- Fixed Mindset: Leo set only easily achievable goals, fearing failure and believing he had limited capabilities.
- Seeking Help:
- Growth Mindset: When Adrian didn’t understand a concept, he sought help, believing it was a part of the learning process.
- Fixed Mindset: When Ben faced a similar issue, he didn’t ask for help, thinking it would reveal his lack of intelligence.
- Career Development:
- Growth Mindset: Megan always looked for training opportunities, believing she could always develop and enhance her career skills.
- Fixed Mindset: Jake avoided additional training, thinking he was either good at something naturally or not at all.
Key Highlights: Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
- Origin & Researcher:
- Concept introduced by American psychologist Carol Dweck.
- Developed while studying human motivation and children’s responses to challenges.
- Basic Principles:
- Growth Mindset: Belief that intelligence and talents can be developed over time.
- Fixed Mindset: Belief that intelligence and talents are static traits, unchangeable.
- Formation:
- Both mindsets are established early in life.
- Comprised of conscious and subconscious thought patterns.
- Implications:
- Profound effects on personal and professional success.
- Growth mindset leads to more effort, perseverance, and resilience.
- Fixed mindset can lead to avoidance of challenges and sensitivity to criticism.
- Behaviors & Attitudes:
- Growth Mindset: Embraces challenges, learns from criticism, inspired by others’ success, and perseveres through obstacles.
- Fixed Mindset: Avoids challenges, gives up easily, sees effort as fruitless, feels threatened by others’ success, and may ignore useful feedback.
- Mindset Origins & Exploration:
- Carol Dweck’s research aimed to understand why some children sought challenges while others avoided potential failure.
- Findings synthesized in her book “Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.”
- Beliefs about Personality:
- Growth Mindset: Views personality as fluid and evolving.
- Fixed Mindset: Believes personality traits are set in stone.
- Personal Anecdotes:
- Application in Real Life:
- Growth mindset fosters continuous learning, adaptability, and resilience.
- Fixed mindset can limit potential and opportunities for growth.
| Context | Growth Mindset | Fixed Mindset |
|---|---|---|
| Entrepreneurship | An aspiring entrepreneur with a growth mindset views failures as learning opportunities, iterates on their business ideas, and adapts to changing market conditions to achieve success. | An entrepreneur with a fixed mindset may become discouraged by setbacks and failures, believing that they lack the innate talent or luck required for success. |
| Health and Fitness | An individual with a growth mindset towards fitness and health continually seeks to improve their physical well-being, embraces challenges in workouts, and focuses on long-term health goals. | Someone with a fixed mindset may avoid physical challenges and exercise, believing that they are inherently unathletic or unable to change their body shape. |
| Innovation and Invention | An inventor with a growth mindset persists in experimenting with new ideas, learning from prototypes that didn’t work, and ultimately creates breakthrough innovations. | An inventor with a fixed mindset may give up easily when initial attempts fail, convinced that they lack the genius required for groundbreaking inventions. |
| Teamwork and Collaboration | Team members with a growth mindset are open to collaboration, believe in the collective potential of the team, and work together to solve complex problems and achieve common goals. | Team members with a fixed mindset may resist collaboration, believing that they can do tasks better alone and that others’ contributions are limited or inferior. |
| Parenting and Child Development | Parents with a growth mindset encourage their children to take risks, learn from mistakes, and persevere in their pursuits, fostering resilience and a love for learning. | Parents with a fixed mindset may overly praise their children’s abilities, fearing that acknowledging mistakes may harm their self-esteem or reputation. |
| Diversity and Inclusion | Organizations that embrace a growth mindset towards diversity and inclusion actively seek to promote equity, inclusion, and diversity of thought, fostering an environment where all voices are heard. | Organizations with a fixed mindset may resist diversity initiatives, believing that existing practices are sufficient and that diversity efforts may disrupt the status quo. |
| Environmental Conservation | Individuals with a growth mindset towards environmental conservation continuously explore innovative ways to reduce their ecological footprint, support sustainable practices, and advocate for change. | Individuals with a fixed mindset may resist adopting eco-friendly habits, believing that their actions won’t make a significant impact on global environmental issues. |
| Conflict Resolution | Mediators with a growth mindset facilitate constructive dialogue and help conflicting parties find common ground and resolution, believing in the potential for reconciliation and understanding. | Mediators with a fixed mindset may approach conflicts with a win-lose mentality, focusing on assigning blame rather than seeking collaborative solutions. |
| Learning New Languages | Language learners with a growth mindset persist in their language studies, practice regularly, and view language barriers as opportunities to expand their cognitive abilities. | Language learners with a fixed mindset may give up when faced with language difficulties, convinced that they lack the innate talent for language acquisition. |
| Crisis Management | Leaders with a growth mindset in crisis management remain adaptable, identify lessons from past crises, and leverage challenges as opportunities for organizational improvement. | Leaders with a fixed mindset may resist change during crises, believing that their established methods and strategies are the only path to success. |
What are examples of a fixed mindset?
In a fixed mindset, the person believes their intelligence and talents are fixed traits that cannot be developed. Take the case of a person building a digital business, yet, stopping as soon as that person sees that the effort into the business is not turning into growth and as soon as that person encounters a failure. A person with a growth mindset knows that to succeed, they will need a consistent process of growth made of many failures along the way.
What are examples of a growth mindset?
Take the case of a digital entrepreneur building a successful blog, newsletter, or YouTube channel, after five years of continuous experimentation and hundreds of small to more significant failures. The growth mindset person will have incorporated a framework and process which leads to small to more significant failures along the way, which turn into incredible growth over time.
Which is better growth or fixed mindset?
A fixed mindset might seem better in the short term as it helps you avoid failure. However, in the long run, a growth mindset is way better, as it empowers you to become the sort of person you wish and to build valuable things in the world.
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