Did you know that you need something more than your accurate planning and impeccable execution to succeed? Both in business and your life in general? We’re talking about growth mindset here. Let’s discover what that is, why it’s crucial and how you can develop it through this blog.
Whether you are a freelancer, a budding entrepreneur or an established small business, there is one thing in common that either makes or breaks things for you. No, it is not your business strategies or processes or operations. All those are important, of course. But along with that, you need a growth mindset.
A growth-oriented mindset helps you broaden your horizon in ways you didn’t even know. Before we delve into that, let’s first understand what a growth mindset is.
What Exactly is a Growth Mindset?
A growth mindset, as the name suggests, is the belief and want to grow. It is the attitude that makes you open to learning new things to improve or expand your capabilities. It is to know that you can develop the skills you set your eyes on with the right trio of learning, efforts and dedication.
A person with a growth mindset won’t shy away from facing new challenges or going the extra mile to accomplish a task that initially seemed out of reach.
Got the basics of a growth mindset? Then it is also critical to know the opposite of it, which is called a fixed mindset.
Think of a fixed mindset as your comfort zone or a safety bubble. Something that encourages you to only keep leveraging the skills you already possess. Such fixedness in attitude gets you stuck within the limitations of your own capabilities and ideas, leading you to the point of stagnation.
How Can a Growth Mindset Benefit You?
Cultivating a growth mindset, for a business, can mean reaching new heights and opening new doors of possibilities. At a personal level, it can bring in happiness, satisfaction, efficiency, and achievements.
Among its host of benefits, we’ve outlined the top advantages of adopting a growth mindset below:
Instills a Sense of Confidence to Experiment
Companies or entrepreneurs with a growth mindset are open to making mistakes and learning from them. Instead of the fear of failure, it brings in conscious awareness to explore new ideas, eagerness to learn, and take the risk with confidence. What if it doesn’t work out? It’s still a chance to gain knowledge and grow. That is the attitude it instills, which ultimately, results in the discovery of new streams of revenue and business growth.
Encourages Self-Development
Your growth stops when you stop acquiring knowledge. More so if you are a freelancer or a business or any working professional. You need to keep adding to your skill set and using the same if you intend to raise the bar for yourself. That’s one of the things a growth mindset fuels the most.
Increases Workforce Engagement
A company with a growth mindset considers each of its employees as its integral part. It recognizes the potential of each individual and invests in developing and refining their skills. That not only makes employees feel valued and motivated but also creates an inclusive work culture. As a result, there is active participation by the workforce, increasing their engagement level.
Boosts Productivity
Having an active, involved workforce translates into accelerated productivity throughout the organization irrespective of your industry. That, in turn, gives ample means to increase profits.
Creates a Positive Outlook towards Feedback
Feedbacks often turn out to be a dreaded word for many. However, for businesses and professionals with a growth mindset, feedbacks come across as a key to get better. They are eager to listen to and analyze the feedbacks in order to embark on the road to improvement.
Now that you know how beneficial a growth mindset can get, it is time to explore the tips to build one.
7 Tips to Help You Build a Growth Mindset
Be Mindful
To develop a growth mindset, you need to start practising mindfulness. Watch your thoughts, behavior, as well as your words. Be more present. The moment you identify negative thoughts or find yourself concentrating on your weaknesses; make deliberate efforts to alter those thoughts.
The more mindful you will be, the more you’ll recognize your negative belief patterns. Once identified, it will be easier to turn them into positive, accepting thoughts.
Focus on the Efforts
Stop praising your team or anyone you know based on their ability/talent, character, or the end-results of their actions. Instead, acknowledge and applaud their efforts, regardless of the outcome that followed. Doing so would not only motivate people but also make them believe in their actions, developing an overall environment for growth.
Embrace Your Imperfections
Nobody is perfect. We all make mistakes and have distinct limitations. Therefore, it is important to be accepting towards those imperfections willingly. It will let you focus on taking the steps to overcome your flaws and grow out of them – a must for building a growth mindset.
Be Open to Learning
A prime aspect of a growth mindset is the will to keep learning. Hence, take out time to learn new skills to excel in your profession or business, attend workshops and seminars, read books, and join a course you think might benefit you professionally or personally.
Watch Your Inner Monologues
What you say to others matters, but it matters even more what you say to yourself. One negative inner monologue can ruin the brightest things for you. That’s why to develop a growth mindset, you have to abandon this habit of feeding obstructive ideas about yourself/your work into your system.
End a bleak thought with a positive sentiment. Use the word “yet”. For instance, “Our process doesn’t seem fruitful..yet.” It creates a positive mind-frame and self-image.
Make the Most of Reviews
People and businesses with a growth mindset tend to leverage reviews to thrive in their respective fields. Feedbacks open doors to getting helpful and honest information. Whether it is about your products/services or internal processes, you get to know what’s missing and channel your efforts to work on it. So, create dedicated feedback sessions within your firm. But make sure the language stays positive and friendly.
Bid Adieu to Your Comfort Zone
The last, but the most essential, tip to form a growth mindset is to challenge yourself consistently. Get out of what you feel is your safe haven, eye new responsibilities, and take newer risks. When you do that deliberately, you learn something new and gift yourself fresh skills. Each time. That, in turn, helps your mind grow and fill it with a new experience, instilling a sense of accomplishment and positive alterations in your outlook.
Final Thoughts
Building a growth mindset is vital for the dynamic times we live in today. From learning new things to taking risks and being more tolerant of failures; a growth mindset can make significant changes. It boosts your leadership skills while carving a path to success for your business. It will also enhance your logical and creative thinking. Put the tips we explored here to practice and see the difference it begins to make gradually. Remember though it is an ongoing process which you have to hold onto to reap long-term fruits.
Author Bio:
Ankit Thakor is a strategic thinker and visionary who can see the big picture and focus on key issues to accomplish established goals. He is a Saas Marketing Specialist at SoftwareWorld – Software Technology Review and Rating Platform.