Your mindset plays an important role in your life. Why? Because your mindset determines how you make decisions. The right mindset leads you to make the right decisions while the wrong mindset leads you to make the wrong ones. They lead you to different kinds of life with a wider gap over time.
To reach your full potential, an essential mindset to adopt is a growth mindset as opposed to a fixed mindset. The growth mindset believes that you can develop your abilities. You can learn and get better at what you do. The fixed mindset, on the other hand, believes that your abilities are fixed. You are either good at something or you aren’t; there is nothing you can do about it.
I have written about these mindsets before, but I found something recently in Shoot for the Moon that links them to other concepts and makes the picture clearer for me.
As it turns out, your mindset affects how you view failures. That, in turn, affects your willingness to experiment which is a key to finding your best possible life.
People with a growth mindset embrace failures. Why? Because they believe that failures can teach them valuable lessons that help them improve. They see failures as opportunities for growth. That’s why they are willing to try new things, things they are not comfortable with.
People with a fixed mindset, however, fear failures. Why? Because they see a failure as a confirmation that they aren’t good at something! That makes them feel bad. Needless to say, they are hesitant to venture out of their comfort zone and try new things.
From the description above, it’s easy to see why the first group can reach their full potential while the second group can’t. The mindset has a domino effect.
Here are some questions to help you reflect on your situation:
- Do you believe that you can get better at anything you do if you put in the effort?
- Do you fear failures? If so, why? Is it because it confirms your inability to do something?
- Are you willing to try a new thing despite the risk of failure? Or, put another way, are you willing to try something you aren’t comfortable with?
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