‘Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.’ - Samuel Johnson

We all know people who seem to be able to face challenges effortlessly, with enthusiasm and even a smile. Why is it that some people can do this, while others are paralysed by anything new that feels even a bit difficult? This question is one of many driving the research of American psychologist Dr Carol Dweck and her colleagues. For decades they have explored what leads to achievement and success in the fields of personality, social psychology and developmental psychology. It turns out that a very simple belief about our own brains can provide the foundation for a ‘growth mindset’: a mind that is resilient, delivers positive self-talk and supports us to persevere in the face of challenge and difficulty, in order to achieve our goals.

In this blog we are going to look at how to develop a growth mindset, and why that’s a good idea for your personal development, endeavours and general approach to life. We are going to explore:

What is a growth mindset
Why cultivating a growth mindset is important
How to develop a growth mindset
Asking for help with your mindset

‘Anyone who has never made a mistake has never tried anything new.’ - Albert Einstein

What is a Growth Mindset?

Dr Carol Dweck developed the concepts of growth and fixed mindsets. It’s often easier to define a concept in relation to its opposite, so let’s look at what a fixed mindset is first:

A fixed mindset:

believes that you have a fixed level of intelligence and abilities, and that it’s not possible to develop or grow or improve in any meaningful way.
believes that you are born with talent for something - if you don’t have the natural talent, then there’s no hope to do well at it.
avoids new environments, challenges and opportunities for fear of failure
limits your potential to what you already know and can do today

In contrast, a growth mindset:

understands that to improve at anything requires hard work, sustained effort and purposeful practice
believes that it’s possible to learn new things and develop new skills
welcomes new environments, challenges and opportunities as a chance to grow and develop
offers you unlimited potential to develop into the person you want to become, with the skills and abilities you want to master

The important point here is what you believe about your brain, your potential and your abilities. Our beliefs inform our internal self-talk. If you have a fixed mindset about something, then the types of things you might say to yourself are:

‘This is too hard. I give up.’

‘I’m no good at this.’

‘I’m not sporty.’

‘I’m not creative.’

‘I’m not a maths person.’

In contrast, if you have a growth mindset about something, your self-talk will usually be much more positive, for example:

‘I will persevere and keep trying.’

‘I can learn how to do this.’

‘I’ll try a different way.’

‘I can practise at sports.’

‘I can develop my creative skills.’

‘I can learn maths.’

The scientific truth is that it is possible to rewire your own brain with thoughts and experiences that will help you live the life you want to live. The brain has an amazing ability to change and adapt through forming and eliminating the neural connections between its cells. The more a neural connection is used, the more automatic it becomes. For example, if you’ve always told yourself ‘I’m no good at maths’, then that neural connection/belief will be strong and automatic. You will need to work to replace it with something else that supports you to achieve what you want to achieve. You may know that you don’t want to be a mathematician but you do need to get a certain grade in Higher Maths in order to get into a further education course you want to do. In this case, it would be more helpful to tell yourself ‘I can learn to do the maths I need to do for this exam.’ That positive belief will support you to keep trying, keep learning and keep studying even when it’s difficult for you.

You have the power to decide which neural pathways you wish to build and which you want to tear down! By doing this, you can develop a growth mindset in whichever areas of your life it is helpful for you to do so.

‘The growth mindset is loving challenges and seeing them as opportunities to grow stronger.’’

- Dr Carol Dweck

Why it’s important to cultivate a growth mindset

If you want to learn how to enjoy new challenges, learn new skills, and achieve your goals, then cultivating a growth mindset is essential. It’s very limiting to believe yourself to be stuck in what you currently know and can do today. With a growth mindset, your foundational positive beliefs about yourself may include:

I know I can learn the skills I want to learn
I know I can ask for help
Every time I fail or make a mistake, I learn something
I welcome feedback from others
I get better when I practise regularly
I know I can improve as long as I keep working steadily

Rather than feeling limited and stuck, you can feel confident, empowered, determined and positive about your future.

‘Do not judge me by my successes, judge me by how many times I fell down and got back up again.’

- Nelson Mandela

How to develop a growth mindset

Here are our top tips for developing positive self-talk and a growth mindset. Be sure to check out our previous blog on Dealing with Negative Thoughts as well. Remember to be kind to yourself as you consider these things. It can take time to change your self-talk and mindset, so don’t worry if it feels hard at first.

The power of ‘yet’

A simple way to start changing your self-talk and mindset to be more optimistic and determined - to build those supportive neural pathways - is to add ‘yet’ to every sentence you start with ‘I can’t…’ or ‘I won’t…’. Let’s try it!

‘I can’t do algebra yet.’

‘I can’t do a handstand yet.’

‘I can’t remember the French vocabulary yet.’

‘I won’t be able to pass the exam yet.’

‘I won’t succeed at that task yet.’

Just the addition of that little three letter word helps to foster hope and optimism for future improvement and accomplishment.

Look at your past to see your future

It can be helpful to look back over your life and identify areas in which you have already learned and developed. For example, you weren’t born knowing how to walk or talk; you had to practise those skills over and over when you were a young toddler. Similarly, you have learned how to read and write, you have learned to ride a bike and catch a ball and how to use a phone, and you have learned how to build and maintain friendships. There are already so many things you have worked on to learn how to do. You’ve come so far in life already and you deserve to feel confident and happy with yourself about that. Now, what do you want to practise and learn next?

Transform the meaning of effort and difficulty

Do you sigh and humph and put your head in your hands when faced with a difficult problem? In fact, when something is hard and you keep trying, that’s when your brain fires more neurons and you actually get smarter! If you understand this, then the meaning of effort and difficulty can be transformed. When you persevere at something, the feeling of accomplishment is all the greater when you learn or achieve what you were aiming for. Practising this will help your growth mindset to develop over time.

Be curious about your self-talk

Where do your self-talk and your beliefs come from? Most of these are picked up from the people and environment around you. Your family, friends, movies and videos, games, books, social apps etc all influence your internal self-talk and your beliefs about yourself. Take some time to think about what people and things you spend the most time with. Are the messages you receive from them mostly negative or mostly positive? For example, negative messages could include complaints, non-constructive criticism, gossip, unhelpful comparisons or fear. Positive messages could include love, encouragement, support, uplifting statements or helpful feedback. How can you spend more time receiving positive messages?

Fixed/growth mindsets in different areas of life

Identify in which areas of your life you have more of a fixed mindset. Consider schoolwork or studies, work, hobbies, sports, relationships, finances, community and spirituality, and any other areas that are important to you. What beliefs are influencing these fixed mindset areas? Generally beliefs starting with ‘I can’t’, ‘I won’t’ or ‘I’m not’ are fixed mindset beliefs.
Is there anything you have been missing out on because of these fixed mindset beliefs? What would this area of your life look and feel like if you held a growth mindset about it instead?
Then, identify the areas of your life that you have more of a growth mindset about. What beliefs are influencing those? Growth mindset beliefs usually start with ‘I can’, ‘I know’, ‘I get’ or ‘I will’.
Compare your fixed mindset beliefs with your growth mindset beliefs. What would it be like to use your growth mindset beliefs in the areas of your life in which you currently have more of a fixed mindset?

‘If we only did things that were easy, we wouldn’t actually be learning anything. We’d just be practising things we already knew.’ - David Dockterman

Asking for help

If you feel like you are finding it difficult to work on your mindset, do consider talking it over with a trusted adult. A parent, guardian, older sibling, friend, relative or teacher may be able to help you. Try and pick someone whose mindset you admire and ask them if they could make some time to chat with you.

Some things you might like to discuss:

in what aspects of your life are you feeling like your mindset is fixed?
are there any areas of your life where you find it easier to have a growth mindset?
how the adult developed their mindset and whether there’s anything useful from their story that you can learn from and apply in your life
what your negative self-talk is telling you and what you could try to replace that with to help you feel better and more positive

If you are struggling to identify someone in your life to have this discussion with, perhaps your school guidance teacher or counsellor can help.

‘There are no secrets to success. It is the result of preparation, hard work and learning from failure’.’ - Colin Powell

Our challenge to you

This week, take some time to notice your own mindset in relation to different areas of your life. Perhaps use a notebook, make notes on a device or talk it over with a trusted friend or adult. Identify in which areas you have a mostly fixed or a mostly growth mindset, and any negative and positive self-talk. Are there any statements that you keep repeating to yourself? Are they true? Do they make you feel good? What would you like more of in your life?

‘Whether you think you can or think you can’t, you are right.’ Henry Ford

Further resources

Mindset by Dr Carol S. Dweck

https://www.mindsetworks.com/science

The Grit Guide for Teens: A Workbook to help you build perseverance, self-control and a growth mindset

Growth Mindset journals and other resources: https://biglifejournal.com/

https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/growth-mindset-movies-children

https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/top-growth-mindset-books-children-adults

https://biglifejournal.com/blogs/blog/top-35-growth-mindset-podcasts-families

https://www.irleducation.org.uk/blog/dealing-with-negative-thoughts

https://www.kqed.org/mindshift/42769/growth-mindset-clearing-up-some-common-confusions

Ted Talk: Carol Dweck - The Power of Believing that you can improve