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Mindset Fundamentals

Mindset is an orientation that encompasses the beliefs you possess about yourself, your abilities, and what eventually becomes actualized in your life. “It’s a mental attitude about critical thinking and curiosity. It’s about a mindset of looking at the world in a playful and curious and creative way.” Adam Savage

“It’s a mental attitude about critical thinking and curiosity. It’s about a mindset of looking at the world in a playful and curious and creative way.”

Adam Savage

How our way of thinking affects our lives?

What you think, you become; I am very much persuaded that one’s prosperity and happiness are based on mindset. Nurturing the appropriate mindset is of unparalleled significance to succeeding in life. Our mindset and beliefs significantly influence our actions, our thoughts, and our natural dispositions. To accomplish your goals in life, your mindset must match your ardent desires. Else, it might cause setbacks and hinder your progress. 

As Henry Ford once said: “if you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right.” If you believe that you and your qualities are unchangeable or fixed, you will prove yourself right; if you think that growth is possible for you and that you can improve, you will also prove yourself right.”

‘If you think you can do a thing or think you can’t do a thing, you’re right’.

Henry Ford

Henry Ford comprehended what science has now come to show. When our beliefs regarding ourselves and our aptitudes are leaning negatively, they become unbending and unchanging, leading to several thoughts and actions. The reverse is also true. When the convictions we have about ourselves and skills are positive and tailored towards development, it paves the way to a wide range of thoughts and actions, taking you down a wholly distinct and productive road.

According to Dr. Carol Dweck: Mindsets are usually positively or negatively oriented, but here we shall look into the two types of mindsets.

Before diving into the definition and explanation of the two types of mindsets, I invite you to take two minutes to answer the questions outlined in the following quiz created by Mindsetworks.com. You will answer a few questions (there are no right or wrong answers here) and do a Mindset Checkup.

According to Carol Dweck, there are two types of mindset: the fixed mindset and the growth mindset.

But, what is to have a fixed or a growth mindset?

What are the advantages or disadvantages?

Fixed Mindset

A fixed mindset leaves the notion that our abilities or skills determine our success in life. With a fixed mindset, we tend to find solace in the more comfortable choices and do away with anything puzzling or energy-consuming out of fear of not achieving our aim and feeling embarrassed about the outcome. A fixed mindset is mostly an incipient stage for you and me; it’s not perpetually wrong as our instincts are built to minimize threats and maximize gain.

People with a fixed mindset:

1) Do have the mindset that skill is the only determinant of success,

2) Dislike puzzling circumstances rather than facing them,

3) Succumb to threats easily and settle with more straightforward options,

4) Do have a sense of worthlessness,

5) Exhibit inferiority complex on seeing the accomplishment of others,

6) Quitting to avoid being a failure.

A Growth Mindset

Carol Dweck’s theory of growth mindset has established a new recipe for success. A growth mindset is all about persistent determination in adversity and making your mistakes and failures an upper hand for you.

“Don’t abate” Growth mindset is all about acknowledging that those obstacles or challenges you encounter along the way are part of the learning process. It’s the ideal path to tread to achieve success. In other words, your qualities like intelligence, talent, abilities, and skills can be cultivated through effort.

People with a growth mindset:

(1) Are positive about ameliorating their skills,

(2) confident enough to undertake challenges even with the risk of failing,

(3) are compassionate about learning,

(4) are ever ready to learn from criticism,

(5) persevere in times of adversity,

(6) show a willingness to learn and find motivation in the achievements of others.

Ways to Improve and Reset your Mindset as a Hispanic Women

• Seek positive friends and supporters

Friends play significant roles and influence your action and thinking a lot. A negative social group will serve as an avenue for negative notions. A positive social group will also serve as an avenue that complements your dreams, so select your friends thoughtfully.

Search for people who share their thoughts and dreams. Look out for people (friends, family members, church members) who reflect the values you want to adopt. It’s not about abandoning your friends who need your support in hard times; it’s about evaluating which friendship or relationship continually drains you and does not impact anything positive.

Sometimes you might need to make decisions as abandon your old social group because it influenced you negatively. It can take time to make new friends, but progress will find its path much more rapidly once you locate your clan because of your new influences.

• Challenge your thoughts

Make an evaluation of your thoughts versus the facts. If they dismember after a thorough examination, then delve into why you supported the claim initially. By so doing, your mindset will start to evolve.

• Volunteer

Assist the needy has a colossal way of impacting your life. It changes your view about yourself, and you tend to see the world in a very different way. When you channel your energy into helping someone, your attention is drawn away from your grief. Developing a positive mindset becomes easy when offering a helping hand to people. You can’t focus on the bad and the good at the same time.

• Adopt a healthy lifestyle.

During the most challenging period of my personal endeavors, good health was one of the most significant advantages. Pay proper attention to how and when you sleep, what and when you eat, and your levels of activity to figure out what could be draining your energy.

• Send thank you notes.

One way to strengthen your connections with people is to make them feel appreciated. That trivial act of sending a thank you note can be inspiring and creates goodwill in others. Thank you notes strengthen your ties of kinship because people like to feel commended for their efforts.

What they did isn’t what matters; any simple act of kindness appreciated by you goes a long way. It could be a mail, an SMS, or a card as a sign of appreciation.

• Pen down a wins checklist

Having started on a good note, it’s no hitch-ending one great note. Make a mental list of the day’s achievement, not necessarily something commemorative. The idea is to keep your high level of focus. Maintaining a record of day-to-day losses can help you amend, but living on your failure will leave you devastated, destroy your inspiration and impetus. End on an unyielding note, and it will be much easier to wake up with a smile on your face.

I can understand that adopting a new and improved mindset is a challenge and an act of courage. Are you willing to take, develop new ideas, and become a new female leader in your home and workplace? Taking risks after following the momentum is part of having a growth mindset.

A growth mindset will make you feel alive because you are proactive in incorporating new ideas and innovations into your life. A perspective that helps you be bold to replace old partners and habits and make you work towards your action to be what and who you want to be. A mindset that helps you focus on the “why” of your goals and turn them into actions so you can start creating and be the creator of your vision.

Few steps to take to start making the shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset:

Step 1: Awareness

Be aware of your self-talk and the negative self-sabotage paradigms from your internal voice. Pay close attention, and you can hear words of criticism like: I can’t do it, that’s too difficult, it’s going to take me a long time to finish, I am not good enough, I am not naturally good at this, and so on. STOP! That is your fixed mindset trying to sabotage your present positive thoughts and future actions. Instead, do the following:

Step 2: Perspective

Develop an optimistic reaction to your thoughts. Go against yourself and your ideas.

For instance, try to respond proactively by looking at the situation from a new positive angle and talking to yourself.

Maybe you are trying to implement a new idea in your workplace, and thoughts as “my manager won’t listen to me,” or “another team member can refute my idea,” or “I am not good enough” comes to your mind. At that moment, be aware of your fixed mindset persona with limited thoughts and ask yourself, what else might be going on here? You can change your thoughts for: “I don’t lose anything if I express my idea because I believe in myself, and If I don’t try, I already failed, and I have no self-respect for my ideas.”

Step 3: Take Action

Taking action means moving towards your next step, and this is the most critical step.

Here, you must take some time to outline your next action step, when you will do it, what you need to do, and the outcome you want to accomplish.

Following the example mentioned above, you can pick a date to express your new ideas to your manager (a team meeting, a personal call, an email, or a solo meeting). Then, prepare your speech and conversation, and lastly, practice or visualize yourself taking action, including achieving the outcome.

Developing a growth leadership mindset is about awareness of your current mindset state, working on your life perspective, and taking action. Only you can change your mindset and your belief system.

Working in this area of your life will improve your confidence and have a personal victory in your life. Remember, this is a choice, and only you are responsible for the actions taken or not taken.

I invite you to be aware of your current mindset and be proactive by working on your personal and professional development. Permit yourself to persuade your mind by deciding on implementing new, innovative, and positive ideas that will help you in re-writing your unique life script. Search for new ideas; challenge your paradigms, learn to withdraw from any negative belief system, and see if your life scripts are appropriate and wise.

With the right mindset, your life will improve significantly. You may find that these steps are a good start. To learn more about nurturing a growth mindset, and bettering your life as a woman, join my Tribe at “Mindset for Women By Adalyd” and kickstart a life-changing journey.