Has anyone told you that you have potential in a certain field? Or has anyone pointed out that you have zero potential at all? What if I tell you that your true learning potential is unknowable? And that it is impossible to foresee the things you could accomplish with a few years of toil, training, and burning passion?
Growth isn’t dependent only on factors like genes or the environment. The facet most people overlook in pursuit of growth is a mindset, which one can cultivate at any point in their life.
A growth mindset is all about the conviction that anyone can improve through unflagging hard words and resolute dedication. By having a growth mindset, a person can reach their full potential while staying aligned with their values. There are surely no limiting beliefs that can stop a person determined to break through the fixed, repeating cycle of their life.
Steps To Cultivate A Growth Mindset
Although a growth mindset is rooted in education, long experiences, and observations, it can be developed through effort, practice, and determination. Here are some practical steps you can try out:
Believe in yourself
This is probably the most important step to start your journey to develop a good mindset. Convince yourself that you are apt to obtain the change you need. Without believing in yourself, you cannot accomplish anything. It might take some time before you instill this in your mind, but it will pay off in time. Growth and accomplishments? You can do it!
New doors of opportunities will open up the moment you believe in yourself. However, although it seems pretty simple, many people struggle to do it. One of the most common reasons people fail to believe in themselves is that they focus too much on mistakes they made in the past.
According to the studies of the Association for Psychological Science, people believe that they can learn from the mistakes they committed after making an error. Knowing that you can gain something despite the mistake makes a person more willing to try things.
Every desire of your heart, every dream you have— believe that they are attainable. Being gifter or not isn’t the determiner of your success. It is the belief that you can prevail and succeed.
Don’t blame others for your shortcomings or circumstances
When things go wrong, it’s easy to put point fingers at others— most people do. However, you should set yourself away from the crowd because nothing good ever comes from it. You need to take responsibility in your own life and be accountable for every decision you make.
Avoid blaming others because you can’t really shift responsibility for your life to others. Once you make it a habit to put others at fault, you’re only preventing yourself from moving forward. To get the results you want, analyze yourself, the things you did, and what you can do to improve things the second time around.
Be curious
People who are striving for change should be curious. Wondering about things you don’t know allows you to experience joy in discovery. Research has even suggested that life is better when you are curious. Get used to the feeling of being curious about all sorts of things, and follow up on it through continuous questioning and information digging.
Curiosity can be your best teacher. It can get you out of the most challenging situations of life. In fact, successful people have shown higher levels of curiosity, and plenty of them are always looking for new ways to flourish. The moment your curiosity fires up is the time you’ll find answers most people struggle to find.
Make room for failures
No matter how uncomfortable failure seems, allow yourself to fail. Defeats are essential for you to persevere in things you truly want. Don’t try to avoid failures because they will serve as your stepping stone to success. Leaders, influencers, role models, and billionaires have miserably failed before they get into where they are now.
The way you manage downfalls is way more important than how you handle success. Failures are bound to happen, and your attitude when it comes to you will determine whether you’ll fall hard to the point that you can’t get up or get back up.
As the famous Japanese proverb says, “Fall seven times, get up eight.” Choose never to give up. Your mindset will take you to a great vision that might not exist yet. Once you begin seeing your failures as opportunities, you’re on your way to victory.
Come out of your shell
Come out of your comfort zone and build a home outside it. Don’t be scared to leave your refuge and take on new challenges. You need to remember that there will be no growth without challenges, so you need to push yourself to grow.
Taking a step out of your comfort zone means you’re moving ahead to uncharted territory. It means you are learning things you have never learned before and trying out things you’ve never tried before, expanding your horizons.
The chance of falling and getting hurt is mainly the reason why people fear going out of their shells. But beyond that fear lies that ability to rise above difficult situations, overcome hurdles, and succeed in new things. Disrupt your peace and enter into the messy world where growth resides.
Don’t focus on winning too much
Even though success is the ultimate goal of any person, it is not the true driving force to get going. Avoid focusing too much on success to the point that you forget to reward yourself for your efforts and simple little victories.
Showering yourself with well-earned self-praise can sustain you in the long run. Keep in mind that the process you went through will cultivate your growth and not the result itself.
Be attentive to your own words
One of the biggest challenges in developing a new habit lies within your mind. Your mind has the power to make you believe that the things you tell yourself are true, so you need to be attentive to what you tell yourself — they can either make you bloom into a better person or turn your life into horror.
Be aware of little monsters that might creep out into your mind. When you are on the verge of comparing your success to others, use their success as your model instead of getting jealous of what they have achieved. Use regard as a tool to usher you along your journey to success.
Don’t seek other people’s validation
It’s quite reasonable for someone to want their achievements, ideas, and opinions to be recognized by others since we all grew up yearning for our parents’ recognition back when we were a child. However, seeking validation from others will only set you up for disappointment.
Don’t live your life pleasing others and doing things that will make them live you. Learn self-approval and self-acceptance. Learn how to trust and believe in yourself. Craving for the recognition of others will only hinder you from growing.
Learn from others’ mistakes
Why suffer the consequences of failing if you can learn from others’ mistakes? In a study conducted in a university in England, researchers found out that people learn more from the mistakes that others have committed rather than their own.
Aside from the experiences of people that surround you, there are tons of podcasts and books that talk about hurdles in different aspects of life and how they overcome them. You could learn some precious life lessons from them.
