The last year alone has shown the sudden change in situations can make you feel that you need to be redirected in certain aspects of your life.
The actions you may have taken in the past to help yourself feel more stable and secure may not be the right point of call for you today. This feeling of uncertainty is not uncommon and often comes paired with anxiety.
Since the start of the pandemic, the amount of people who have suffered from anxiety has increased. Statistics show that in the USA alone, the number of people who have experienced symptoms of anxiety disorder has nearly doubled in 2020.
Reevaluating your mindset and taking the steps you need to make you start feeling like yourself again can come in the form of building a growth mindset. In times of vulnerability, you may feel as though you are not deserving or worthy of certain things, and having a growth mindset can help you combat these thoughts.
What Is A Growth Mindset?
Carol Dweck outlined in her research that those with a growth mindset are more open to new ideas and the willingness to learn and grow. In contrast to this, those with a fixed mindset can limit themselves in certain areas of life, by believing that their capabilities are solely tied to what they believe to be innate and fixed within themselves.
Maintaining a growth mindset is no easy task and more than often takes going through some uncomfortable changes in your life. Whether that be in regards to your finances, your career situation, or even your relationship, making the decision to change the way you think can change your life in more ways than you may think.
Wanting to make a change in your mindset might be catalyzed by being stuck in a rut or not feeling like you are the best version of yourself at the moment.
At the beginning of establishing a growth mindset for yourself, you may not always feel motivated to take the actions you know you need to, and sometimes it is about embracing that, but also knowing that you have to work through it to make these actions a habit for yourself. And if you are willing to make the change you absolutely will.
Growth Mindset Vs Fixed Mindset In Business Strategy
Approaching your business strategy with a growth mindset rather than a fixed mindset is vital if you want to see changes within your company’s development.
The clue is in the word ‘growth’. Those who approach their strategy and leadership techniques with a growth mindset in mind are more likely to see themselves grow as a person while leading their company to success.
However those with a fixed mindset are more likely to remain fixed on one ideal and miss opportunities to alter and develop their strategy, leaving their outcome stuck and unprogressive.
For business leaders looking to create a change, here are just a few ways that developing a growth mindset could dramatically transform your approach to business growth:
1. Losing
Fixed Mindset: Leaders with a fixed mindset are more likely to step down when facing a loss. Rather than using a business loss as an opportunity to grow and redevelop a strategy, those with a fixed mindset are more likely to believe that they are not good enough, and simply give up on their goal in order to play it safe with their company growth tactics.
Growth Mindset: Those with a growth mindset learn to love losing. Rather than taking it as a reason to give up on a goal, leaders with a growth mindset use this loss as an opportunity to head back to the drawing board and learn from their mistakes, re-focusing their strategy in order to work towards future business success.
2. Challenges
Fixed Mindset: Those with a fixed mindset view challenges as an opportunity to make a mistake, meaning they are less likely to take on a challenge or make an effort to develop their company strategy.
Therefore, businesses led by those with a fixed mindset are more likely to stay behind the times and trends, falling back in the race to rival newly developed competitors.
Growth Mindset: Those with a growth mindset see a challenge as a chance to put in the effort to see success.
This not only encourages them to push themselves as leaders and take risks to improve the business but also helps develop their growth as a person for future challenges they may face both in and out of the office.
3. Accountability
Fixed Mindset: Business leaders with a fixed mindset will often find a way to blame peers or ulterior factors for their company mistakes, making them less likely to take accountability for business failures.
Growth Mindset: Those with a growth mindset, however, take accountability for their actions and use their platform to learn from their mistakes while teaching others.
Sharing knowledge with employees and turning their mistakes into new redirected strategies is a great way to improve team morale while working towards success.
How To Develop A Growth Mindset
Whether you are a large business leader or a startup company looking to see success, the first step towards both business and personal growth is a mindset shift. Especially as we enter a post-pandemic working world, it is time to redirect those strategies, turn Covid-19 losses into post-Covid success and work on the future of your business.
Read on to find out our top three mindset reset tips and learn how you can develop the growth mindset your company needs.
1. Back to Basics
When starting your journey into developing a growth mindset, you must first establish your basic habits. By making sure your body is getting the essential components for its functionality, you are setting yourself up for success in doing something more substantial for your own wellbeing.
Ensuring you are well-rested and have had good sleep is the first step in making sure your basic habits are met. Creating healthy sleeping habits will allow you to get the sleep you need before you even begin thinking about anything else.
One thing you can do to break out of your bad bedtime routine habits is to make sure your phone is out of your bedroom space at least an hour before you actually go to sleep, or at least not within the distance of your bed. Limiting your screen time before bed will mean that your mind will be less stimulated when you are actually trying to go to bed.
Opt for reading a book, or perhaps listening to a podcast or relaxing music before you go to bed. You can download a sleep music app that automatically turns itself off as you fall asleep.
Paired with sleeping well, feeding your body with the right foods can make a huge difference to your mindset. Ensuring your gut health is improved can be excellent for your mental health. Studies have shown gut health and mental health, because of the hormones associated with your gut.
Feeding your body with the right nutrition and foods can set you up to feel good and feel energized. Reaching for sugary snacks can mean that you do not have long-lasting energy as you would if you were feeding yourself with proper foods.
Taking the time to make the foods you love to eat and feeding yourself with a range of nutrients is setting yourself up to do your best.
2. Knowledge is Power
Now that you’ve established your basics you can move on the things to start working on your mindset. Taking care of yourself in the most basic of forms allows you to start showing respect for yourself and your endeavors and give you a sense of achievement.
Taking care of your body leads seamlessly into taking care of your mind. Reading and further educating yourself can get you on the road to being more open to developing yourself.
Books such as Good Enough and 101 Essays That Will Change the Way you Think are easy places to start, even committing yourself to five pages a day can give you an insight into your way of thinking. If reading isn’t for you, you can incorporate learning into your day in a more passive fashion.
Podcasts are a great tool to accompany you on your daily movement or car journeys and can even come with you when you go to a food shop. Choosing a topic you want to learn more about, from self-awareness to finance to lifestyle, there is material for everyone and anything.
3. Affirmations with Intention
It is no secret, then when working on yourself, having an idea of where you want to be is helpful, to say the least. Setting and establishing goals for yourself is important, and this can be a great place to start before you even begin anything too strenuous in your quest for a growth mindset.
Writing down your immediate and long-term goals can make your goals seem more concrete and attainable. Paired with manifesting what you want, your actions will slowly begin to aid in solidifying your goals.
Taking these steps towards getting a growth mindset are simple ways you can get out of the rut or even elevate your current routines.
Rebecca is a journalist and blogger specializing in the health, business, and technology sector.
