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What often prevents you from having a good day (or year!), from experiencing fulfillment or success, or from making the right choice is your mindset.
I wrote about mindset earlier this year with ways to elevate your mindset. Recently, I discovered a new, simple and sustainable technique to change your mindset from a fixed (static) mindset to a growth mindset. It is from the book “Mindset” by Dr. Carol S. Dweck.
There are four steps to change your fixed mindset. In this blog, I explain the different steps, what you have to do, and how I experienced it. I am convinced that it can also help you get out of a fixed mindset to a mindset where there is growth, development, and action.
The four steps to move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset are the following:
1. Recognize that you are dealing with a fixed mindset
2. Identify the fixed mindset trigger
3. Name the fixed mindset
4. Educate your fixed mindset
Recognize that you are dealing with a fixed mindset
The first step is to become aware that you are stuck in a fixed mindset. Thoughts or questions that go through my mind when I am in a fixed mindset are, for example:
- I can’t (I don’t want to)!
- What’s the point of that?
- I don’t feel like / want that
- Again!?
Physically I feel a tension in my chest and stomach. Energy and creativity are absent or very low. Do you recognize this? Chances are, you are in a fixed mindset.
Identify the trigger of the fixed mindset
What triggered your fixed mindset? No doubt there is something that has caused this mindset. Maybe it’s your boss or a colleague who wants something from you, or it’s the customer who calls you over and over again. Maybe it’s your partner or your child who wants something from you while you’d rather do something else. Do you recognize this? Then it is good to go to the next step.
Give the fixed mindset a name
At first, I thought it was weird to name my fixed mindset. But what happens when you name your fixed mindset is that you become aware of that state and acknowledge it. You give it a place by standing still and acknowledging it. Then there is peace. So I take a few deep breaths. My fixed mindset is called “Bobby” (no, not you, Bobby!). When Bobby is present, I have to laugh a bit clumsily at the fact that I’ve been tempted again to resist something or to be angry.
Educate your fixed mindset
That is why it is important to educate your fixed mindset. “Hello, Bobby” or “Not again, Bobby!” is the first thing I say to Bobby as if I were talking to a small child or young dog that needs training.
Educating my fixed mindset means that I contact my values, talents, character strengths, purpose, and WHY. Those are my reasons for being here and serving. It’s about reconnecting with my empathy, enthusiasm, the fact that I do what I promise (trust), and my ability to love (or be loved). Then there is energy, creativity, and love to do those things that seemed difficult and heavy before. As a result, there are opportunities to grow, learn, and experience the situations and the people around me. When that happens, I am aware of my growth mindset, which makes me happy because the heart is flowing again.
What makes you happy?
To educate your fixed mindset, you must first start with yourself. Ultimately, we all want to be happy or experience happiness in our own way (I don’t mean the happiness of getting the latest smartphone for Christmas). If you want to experience true personal happiness, it is good to start with yourself and discover your values, character strengths, purpose, and WHY. These actions help you move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset and experience more happiness.
Start tomorrow!
Recognize your fixed mindset(s) today but start to educate that mindset tomorrow. We can help you discover your talents, core qualities, values , and WHY. Your unique WHY is always positive and action-oriented (see this blog for examples of WHY statements). It is your contribution that affects this world. You can contact us tomorrow (or today) for a free introduction, or we can get started right away, so you know what to do if you are stuck in a fixed mindset.
How do you change your mindset? What makes you happy? Let me know in the comment field below. The other readers of this article. and I are looking forward to reading from you!
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