What It Means to Have a Growth Mindset 📈

People say that if a business isn’t growing, it’s dying. I’m of this mind as well.

If you're like me, then you're obsessed with having a growth mindset with regard to your business. 

But what exactly is it? 

While some people think having a growth mindset is simply having a positive outlook on life and being able to handle challenges with an out-of-the-box mindset, I say it has a lot more meaning. 

Growth is a mental state

A growth mindset is a mental state that's positive and supportive of change. It's all about taking experiences and applying them to future situations so you improve yourself and the situations around you. This might be in your personal relationships, or for professional development goals at work.

The idea isn't new.

Psychologist Carol S. Dweck first discussed it in her bestseller Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. After studying the behavior of thousands of children, Dr. Dweck coined the terms fixed mindset and growth mindset to describe the underlying beliefs people have about learning and intelligence.

Growth Mindset:

An underlying belief a person has that is positive and supportive of change

As entrepreneurs and professionals, we are constantly pushed to grow. We are told we need a better marketing strategy, that our product is under-performing, or that we need to get more customers on board to get real growth.

A lot of us think that if we imagine that growth forever then we will magically build it and there will be nothing stopping us. This is not how it works.

The foundation of a growth mindset is understanding that no matter where you are in your business (or life) at any given moment you'll always be progressing forward. 

A growth mindset is about changing your perspective

This idea comes from cognitive psychology. 

It's the idea that your mindset can shape your actions. In other words, the more confident and inspired you are, the easier it is to tackle challenges and achieve better results.

If a growth mindset is an idea that you're constantly improving—that growth can be fueled by doing or developing. But it certainly isn't limited to either of those things if your mindset is full of positive energy. 

Growing your business might be one way to try to improve how you feel about yourself. It's an excellent outlet for motivation but also an outlet for growth.

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Let go of unrealistic expectations and goals

For most of us, achieving a certain goal is usually an indication that we're on the right track. 

To develop a mindset in which we face challenges with confidence, we must adapt our plans and structures as needed. You have to adjust your goals so that they become targets instead of obligations.

The best way to achieve a growth mindset is to hold ourselves to realistic expectations and then work towards providing ourselves with the results we want. 

When I achieved a significant success that defied my expectations, I experienced the willingness to face the world with new strength and courage.

If you aren’t making mistakes, you aren’t pushing yourself

One of the fastest ways to grow a business is to experiment. Take ideas that have merit, test them out, and double down on the most effective ones.

But experimentation also comes with failure. Even the cleverest people aren’t right all the time, even most of the time. 

Mistakes and failures are part of the growth process. You often learn more when something completely doesn’t work than when it’s in the middle of the road.

Embrace mistakes. Embrace failure. Be thankful for how much you can learn and how quickly you can learn it when things don’t go your way.

A growth mindset will serve you for the rest of your life

When I really began focusing on internal change, I began to see how much impact my beliefs and actions had on my character. 

I was able to realize that no amount of preparation or effort would be enough for things to go perfectly. But I also realized they didn’t have to. 

Develop a growth mindset and experience the spark of growth within yourself as well, and unlock the power of change that comes from being in the present moment and paying attention to what's going on right now.