A Growth Mindset for Career Success…..

How we view the world is down to our mindset….

After decades of research, Carol S. Dweck of Stanford University identified that a person can either have a fixed or a growth mindset, demonstrating that success in almost every area of our lives can be influenced by how we think about our talents and abilities.

A person with a fixed mindset assumes that our intelligence and qualities are fixed and cannot change. They believe that talent alone leads to success with no effort and they avoid failure at all costs.

A growth mindset assumes that everyone can change and grow through experience and practice. They see challenges and failures as an opportunity to learn and stretch their abilities.

Career Success happens when you develop and deepen your understanding of growth-mindset concepts. With this perspective, you open up opportunities for yourself, improving your quality of life, career advancement and workplace productivity.

Five practical ways you can develop a growth mindset:

Become a lifelong learner

Always be open to trying new things and learn to become comfortable with change. The more you learn, the more you are training your brain to act a certain way and make various connections.

Say Yes to a new challenge

Even if you have no idea how you will approach the challenge. The power is in overcoming obstacles and being mindful that the magic of change happens outside your comfort zone. View challenges as opportunities to develop.

Become comfortable with Failure

By evaluating what went wrong and understanding how you can take a different approach to a situation, will lead to success and career development.

Ask for feedback

A growth mindset is always interested in developing and welcomes feedback. When someone points out a weakness to you, see this as a gift that you can improve and learn from.

Reflect on your learnings

At the end of each week write down though a journal or bullet points on what you have learnt that week and then make a note of how you can develop that learning.

Developing a growth mindset in relation to Career Success is critical to thrive in our ever changing world. I suggest to my clients that they spend 21 days reflecting on each decision conversation and action with a view to see if it comes from a growth or fixed mindset.

For every fixed mindset situation review it with a growth lens to understand further how this can become a natural mindset for you.