We live in a world where we are equipped with 2 different mindsets: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset, and they are completely opposite each other. They both have a huge impact on how you perceive the world and how you react to it, and this determines to a great extent whether you will be successful or just average.
The fixed mindset is the most prevalent, it is the one most of us have been taught. The majority believes that we all have a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character that cannot be changed.
Success entails constantly proving yourself to the world; you have to show that you are capable, intelligent, and that you are a good person. Failure means you are not good enough, and when you cannot improve yourself – you are “fixed” – that is pretty devastating. If you think you’re apt to fail, and therefore look bad, you are not very likely to make the effort, are you?
On the other hand there is the growth mindset, which says you are not limited, that you can enhance your skills, talents, and intelligence, and that failure is simply a part of learning and growing. This is the mindset that allows people to thrive during some of the most challenging times in their lives, because it is believed that a person’s true potential is unknown (and unknowable); that it’s impossible to foresee what can be accomplished with years of passion, effort and training.
Of course, it is unlikely you will be in one mindset your whole life….
Change always first happens on the inside, even when it is triggered by something on the outside. You decide to change, to respond or to react. In order to change yourself so that you can become the successful person you crave, you have to address your mindset before you can perform it in the world. Most people do not realize that they are fighting a battle within themselves, with their ego, because they think the battle is with the rest of the world outside them.
The process is simple: you think about what you want to change, decide what the desired outcome is and how you could achieve this, and then you change your behavior and thinking to allow this to happen.
Yes, it is that simple, it is just not easy.
