{"id":1553,"date":"2022-01-20T15:49:00","date_gmt":"2022-01-20T21:49:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sustainabledriftlessmag.com\/sdmunicdn\/?p=1553"},"modified":"2022-03-18T14:04:44","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T19:04:44","slug":"driftless-health-developing-a-growth-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sustainabledriftlessmag.com\/sdmunicdn\/driftless-health-developing-a-growth-mindset\/","title":{"rendered":"DRIFTLESS HEALTH: Developing a Growth Mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"

By Joshua Peters –<\/span><\/p>\n

Developing a Growth Mindset<\/h1>\n

\"\"Life in my twenties was hard!<\/span><\/p>\n

Due to choices I made, I felt trapped in a life I hadn\u2019t really wanted.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

I took any type of criticism or feedback as a direct attack against me. When I would talk to someone, if they brought up a concept or idea that I didn\u2019t know about, I\u2019d pretend I understood so I wouldn\u2019t look stupid. I put a lot of pressure on myself to do things right, to do things perfectly, and when it wasn\u2019t the way I envisioned, I\u2019d beat myself up.<\/span><\/p>\n

Although I felt unhappy and unfulfilled, I was afraid to say what I really wanted because I was afraid I would lose what I did have. I felt completely stuck and had no idea how to get free. I believed that the world was against me and no matter how hard I tried, I would never do anything right.<\/span><\/p>\n

I was stuck in a fixed mindset.<\/span><\/p>\n

Fixed vs Growth Mindset<\/b><\/h2>\n

Someone with a fixed mindset believes that everyone is born with certain abilities, a fixed intelligence, and a particular character, and no matter how much effort or work you do it won\u2019t change the basic traits of the person.<\/span><\/p>\n

They tend to experience life in a very black and white way – there are winners and losers, you\u2019re either successful or a failure, you\u2019ve got talent or you haven\u2019t.<\/span><\/p>\n

They often want to demonstrate how good they are at something, to prove themself to the world.<\/span><\/p>\n

(The highlighted area should be a larger, inset box to highlight the concept.\u00a0 Keep the copy ALSO in the article.)<\/span><\/p>\n

In contrast, people with a growth mindset<\/i> believe that your abilities, your intelligence, and your character can always be changed. They embrace challenges and view setbacks as opportunities to grow and learn.<\/span><\/p>\n

Failure becomes feedback. They ask themselves \u201cwhat can I learn from this\u201d and then incorporate the learning into their lives, changing their strategy for next time.<\/span><\/p>\n

They believe that, although not everyone is going to become a Mozart or Picasso, with a little time and effort anyone can increase their skills in any area.<\/span><\/p>\n

How to encourage a growth mindset<\/b><\/h2>\n

Most people find they have a growth mindset in some areas of life and a fixed mindset in others. In my twenties I couldn\u2019t seem to learn how to be in a relationship or have positive self esteem but I was always learning new skills in the areas of technology and design.<\/span><\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t until I finally realized that the universe was not out to get me. I was basically making that up. If I could make that up, I could make up better, more positive ideas and beliefs that could actually serve me.<\/span><\/p>\n

Here are four key ways to encourage a growth mindset in yourself or even in others.<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n