Tools and Resources
What Is a Growth Mindset?
financial and investment planning
A growth mindset is the belief that you can learn, change, and improve with time and effort.
People who have a growth mindset build up the strength to overcome challenges instead of giving up because they think they just don’t have what it takes to succeed. They aren’t scared of failure because they know failure helps them get one step closer to where they want to be.
Now, the opposite of a growth mindset is something called a fixed mindset. People who have a fixed mindset believe that success (or failure) is a result of permanent qualities, circumstances, and character traits that they don’t have the power to change. And my guess is that Eeyore is their spirit animal.
Whether they realize it or not, they believe they were born with certain characteristics—like intelligence, shyness, talent, or a hot temper—with no way to improve or adjust. They live their life making decisions based on those beliefs, which can really hold them back in the long run. With a fixed mindset, pessimism always wins.
Here are some examples of a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset:
Fixed: “I’ll never learn how to do this. I’m not smart.”
– Growth: “I might not know how to do this now, but I’m going to read up on it and figure it out.”
– Fixed: “I don’t have to prep for this job interview. I’m good at marketing, so they’ll give me the job.”
– Growth: “I’m going to spend time preparing and give it my all, so even if I don’t get hired, I’ll know I did my best.”
– Fixed: “Being in debt is just part of adulthood. Everyone has student loans and car payments.”
– Fixed: “Everyone in my family has gotten divorced, so I’ll probably end up divorced too.”
– Growth: “Nobody’s perfect, but I’m going to work hard on this relationship and do everything I can to have a healthy marriage.”
Do you guys see the difference? This mindset thing is something we all have to work on—myself included. No one’s going to get it right all the time. But now that we know what it means let’s break down some practical steps you can take to start developing a growth mindset. Financial and investment planning tools and resources Money.