Growth Mindset VS Fixed Mindset

Contents

1 Growth Mindset VS Fixed Mindset

At the end of the day, if one has a fixed mindset, they have essentially begin the process of an early death. They may live 60 more years, but when death comes, they would have already been mentally deceased a long time ago. I know this is a bid morbid but it is true. If we aren’t growing we are dying.

There is no in between. You can’t be on the fence in this issue. Creating a growth mindset requires one does not want to dabble in getting into personal development. It takes a spiritual signature in a sense, that you will commit the rest of your life to growth.

That you know you will never reach your full potential, but because you will always be striving. When you do this, commit, you cut off all other possibilities. You will do this until your last day. This is when a growth mindset is much more easy to adapt. Life becomes way more fun as you see yourself always making progress. As we can grow from anything and everything.

When it comes down to the cultivation of a growth mindset, we need to of course, start with our minds. Set the mind on auto pilot to where it simply starts thinking in a more abundant and growth conducive way. But in order to be more positive on auto pilot, we need to monitor the door of our mind. Stand guard at it as Jim Rohn’s mentor Earl Shoaff talks about.

We need to start looking, from an outside perspective, of what our minds are saying to us. We need to become conscious of it. This can be done all through out the day. As well as through deep states of mediation where you can literally witness your thoughts and change or let them go if you choose to.

Characteristics Of The Two Mindsets

Fixed Mindset Characteristics

Someone with a fixed mindset sees life as a place where they have already reached their full potential, so why even try? Someone who feels as if their genes play a huge role in who they are. One who thinks that where they are is where they have to stay because they have used all their gas in the tank.

These people also put a cap on their happiness and their life because of this thought process. Essentially it is being in state of self defeat. Old dogs can’t learn new tricks type of mentality.

Someone with a fixed mindset usually is discouraging to other people around them and even themselves. They don’t want to see people get ahead of them. And they don’t believe it is even possible for themselves to get ahead. They also usually taunt others or are belittle other people for striving to become more.

31 Fixed Mindset Traits

Stuck
Fearful
Haughty
Frustrated
Mad
Won’t Budge
Small Thinker
Doesn’t Think It’s Worth It
Talks About Themselves
Knows All The Answers
Aggressive
Dark
Frowning
Unhappy
Not Hopeful
Dead
Cut off
Apathetic
Complacent
Hates To Be Wrong
Judgmental
Cold
Unfeeling
Prideful
Discouraging
Dishonest
Exaggerator
Not Happy
Acting Happy
Living In The Past
Not open to change

Growth Mindset Characteristics

Someone with a growth mindset is actually invigorated by the idea of being able to reach their full potential. They are excited about life because they know the opportunity to get better is essentially endless.

That if they take action and keep moving forward, they can become better. This hope provides enough energy to move forward towards a better future. Energy and hope that a person would not have if they had a fixed mindset. Because why would they even try?

Someone with a growth mindset is seen as an encouraging person. Because they are becoming better, they treat people better. They usually have a different light in their eye. And an energy coursing through them.

They see live through curious lenses. And this curious spirit sparks literal growth in one’s brain though new synapses. And also sparks ones will to take on life. To check off their bucket list items. To milk life for what it’s worth. And take part fully in the human experience.

39 Growth Mindset Traits

Excited
Courageous
Loving
Accepting
Loving
Happy
Cheerful
Buzzing
Hopeful
Open Minded
Urgent
Developing
Becoming
Leader
Helpful
Gentle
Driven
Winner
Talented
Intense
Above Average
Committed
Alive
Big Thinker
Talks Positively About Others Not Themselves
Fascinated
Playful
Powerful
Intuitive
Successful
Passionate
Uplifting
Team Player
Great
Interesting
Interested
Thoughtful
Supportive
Teacher

Fixed Mindset VS Growth Mindset Examples

Before we get into the list of examples of a fixed mindset versus a growth mindset, I want to encourage you to think in a way that supports the idea that you can grow past where you are. That your traits aren’t fixed. Your genes don’t have to play a role. You have the power and ability to transcend all that you have been taught to believe.

Below the list on the left side, there will be examples of a fixed mindset. On the right will be it’s opposing opposite. Examples of a growth mindset. This way when we thinking in a fixed pattern, we can have examples of what to replace them with. So we can swap the negative for positive. Check them out!

Examples OF Growth Mindset Examples Of Fixed Mindset

I Can’t Do It I Can Do It

I Am Too Old Old Dogs CAN Learn New Tricks

I Am Too Young My Age Doesn’t Matter

I Am Simply Bound To Fail I Can Succeed At Anything I Set My Mind To

I am just not talented I haven’t found my talent or calling yet

I am scared I’ll fail I am only a failure if I give up

I’ll never live in a nice house I am fully capable of living in my dream home and deserve it

I’ll never finish college I am smart and driven and will get my degree

I’ll never break this addiction My mind is so strong and can break any bad habit

I will never find the right person I will attract the right person by becoming a better person

I can’t save money I have the power to master my finances

My mind only thinks negative By changing my thoughts, I can think more positive

Also, I have an article on getting rid of limiting beliefs with a list of some of the most used limiting beliefs we have all been taught over the years. Check out the article to help you maximize your growth mindset!

How To Get Rid of Limiting Beliefs

How To Develop A Growth Mindset (27 Simple Tips)

Ditch Victim Thoughts

First things first, you can’t play the victim with the growth mindset. Internalize the fact that you are the creator of your environment. Take massive ownership of your life. Trust me, it may suck at some points along the journey. But it feels a whole lot better doing so than not. It puts you in a state of courage. Instead of a state of fear.

Try it for a day. Take responsibility for everything that happens in that day. Even if you played absolutely no part in it. This will teach you to do so when it really counts.

Ask What You Could Have Done Different Or Better Each Day

Not only will this help you grow each day, but it will most likely make you into a much more productive person. If you lashed out a bit at a family member or co-worker, how could you do things differently and better next time?

Also ask what you did good. And when you identify things you did good, then you find ways to do them even better. Maybe you took a quicker shower than normal and saved a few minutes. Maybe you can do your meditation during your quicker shower and knock out two birds with one stone.

Embrace Forgiveness

You can only grow as much as you move past things that are holding you back. When we forgive we open up more space for good things to come into our lives. It may be the biggest challenge ever to forgive people. But when we do, we feel more free.

It may be the biggest jump in growth you can experience. It is part of the transcendence of our EGO self. And lets us access a higher plane of consciousness. This is where we can make quantum leaps in growth.

It also breaks you free from the shackles that lock you to the past. You refrain from looking back anymore. You have sunnier days now to look forward to. And can realize this fact when you finally turn your direction away with forgiveness.

Change The Word Challenge To Opportunity

Like Roy Bennett said:

“For every challenge, every adversity, contains within it the seeds of opportunity and growth.”

How can you grow from the valleys and low points in your life? How can you swing it so you come out stronger and better and more equip for good and bad times? Anyone can skate through good times. But it is about using our tough times as life lessons. Otherwise we are wasting it. We are not only going through hard time, but we are trying to deny it ever exists. Or just get through it. Or even worse, talk about it over to the people we know. Where our attention goes, energy flows. So if our attention is on talking about our problems, we are only going to attract more problems.

Growth through this. Rise above telling people about your problems. And find the lesson and growth opportunity in the tragedy.

Embrace Your Weaknesses

We are all told that we can do anything we put our minds to. And this is very true. But only if we acknowledge what we may be bad at. And then working a plan to get better them.

Failure Is An Illusion

If you keep going and keep trying you will never be a failure. You are a success if you are day by day, pursuing a worth goal or ideal. Never label yourself a failure. If you mess up, get back up and try again. Someone with a growth mindset sees life this way. Someone with a fixed mindset sees failure set in stone. That if they failed once, they are a failure. This is simply not true. Remind yourself that if you keep moving forward, not matter how slow, you can never be a failure.

Purpose Is Your Ticket To Growth

In order to really grow as a person, we need to strive toward something that gives our life meaning. And when we do this, we realize we need to become someone new entirely. And often times when we do this, our rigid and fixed mindset often dumps itself. Because we are not the same person anymore, we essentially leave behind the old us. Rising from the ashes as a more beautiful and transformed version of ourselves.

If you are struggling finding your purpose or passion, I wrote an article just for you! Check it out here:

How To Find Your Passion (With Passion Quiz)

Stick Things Out Just A Little Longer

“It’s hard to beat a person that never gives up.” – Babe Ruth

In order to transform our minds to thinking from a growth perspective is to stick things out. A little longer than we normally would. We are all operating with less potential than we have. But when we show ourselves that we can push through. That we can push past that voice that is screaming at us to quit, maybe, just maybe, we can continuously tap more and more potential.

When we do this, we naturally think bigger. And with less limits. Hence, not only are we thinking from a growth mindset at this point. We are literally expanding our mind. Which we will think out of it’s new dimensions from that point forward. Never going back.

Learn From Other People’s Mistakes

Often times we don’t even need to make our own mistakes on our journey to grow. Might as well not right! Learn from others. See how they dropped the ball. Then do the opposite. But be willing to humble yourself enough to know that you don’t have all the answers. Which is entirely OK. No one does. The more we learn, the more we learn we know very little. Cultivate a students mindset always.

Help Others Grow

It is said that the teacher actually learns the most, not the student. Help other people grow. Encourage it. Foster friendships that are centered in growing each other. Like a mastermind. What is a mastermind? I thought you would never ask! Here is an article on what it is as well as how to form one to help you grow and succeed much more and faster!

What Is A Mastermind & How To Form One

Ask More Questions

John Maxwell said that he became a much better leader when he started asking more questions. And he also links leadership to success. The better leader we are, the more we can experience success in every area of our lives.

When we ask questions, we learn more. Plain and simple. No one likes the person that knows all the answers. But really has none. Plus it becomes fun to learn from other people. Use every conversation you have a as a way to grow yourself. Plus you will make some awesome friendships along the way by doing so.

Value Other People

In order to really rise to the top in life, we need to value other people. By doing so we are essentially valuing ourselves in the process. You place much of your attention outwards. Constantly making others lives better. This gets us away from our EGO state. Which we can become consumed by when we are too inside ourselves. The more we turn our awareness outwards, the more we experience our child like essence that is constantly willing and looking to grow and learn.

Bless Others Growth

I am not talking like you should be a preacher walking around and blessing people! I am saying that in order to encourage our own growth, we need to see it in a positive light when we see it in others. If you see a friend or family member getting ahead. Pursuing their dreams. Or transforming themselves. Reward it with praise. Both internally and externally.

By doing this, you actually draw more of it into your life. As we have all seen what happens when we curse someone rich. We see their Porsche or Ferrari parked out front and look at them with despise and disgust. This act here is telling the universe that we don’t want that. This is why the rich get richer. And the poor get poorer.

The same applies with growth. People that have a growth mindset love seeing others breaking through their comfort zones and creating new lives for themselves. Do the same and I promise you, a growth mindset will become a natural occurrence in your daily life!

EXERCISE!

Try this little exercise. Next time you see someone pull up in a super rad car, tell them that you admire their success. Show them that you appreciate how they have gotten ahead in life.

We are all born the same. Some of us get better starts then others, others start off a little or lot worse. But we are all just trying to do our best in this life. And people who have achieved things are just like us. Trying to get as much as they can out of life. Don’t judge them for it. Bestow praise and admiration on them. And watch your life change.

Don’t Wait Until Your Ready

Many people wait around until everything is just right. Until they feel like it. And most people will wait their whole lives. Because we will never be ready to do something. Take a new job. Ask that person out. Get married. Have kids.

But we need to move forward with our life of growth. No matter how weird we feel or how much we don’t want to partake in it on a daily basis. When you don’t want to do something, you must do it. When you feel as if you can’t do something, that is when you must.

Embrace Brain Plasticity

Often times we think as if we have hit a wall to who we can become. How much we can learn and retain. How much success we can enjoy. But this is all BS. A great article about neuroplasticity talks about how the brain connections became fixed when we reach a certain age. But this is simply not the case as research has debunked this. It shows that the brain never stops changing though learning.

That is what the meaning of plasticity is. The brain changes while learning. It even shows that people who master things have bigger areas of their brain then those who don’t. For example taxi drivers have larger posterior regions of their brain than London bus drivers. Because bus drivers have a fixed route that they follow. Whereas taxi drivers use complex spatial information to allow them to navigate the terrain efficiently.

It also talks about a simple study of a group learning just abstract information and a group that didn’t. It showed the group that who studied the abstract information for 3 months showed learning induced changes in the parietal cortex along with the posterior hippocampus. Which are ares of the brain that are involved with both learning and the retrieval of memories.

Both of these scientifically documented facts can help us push past the feeling that we are somehow stuck. It can provide us hope that we can and have the ability to change.

At this point, it all comes down to desire to do so. Which, I know you have it because you wouldn’t be reading this article if you didn’t!

So let neuroplasticity give you hope for a better and more growth immersed future!

Don’t Use Limits With Your Thoughts Or Speech

The minute you put limits on either one of these, you instantly fix your thought patterns. When you think in black and white, there are no gray areas. I mean think about it, there are no limits.

Things that science prove that can’t be done, have been done. Time and time again. The 4 minute mile was thought to not be able to be done, until Roger Bannister did so. Then shortly after that, even high school kids did it!

Always think of possibilities. When you have a thought that is matter of fact about a limit, immediately replace it with a thought that reflects your limitless capacity.

Stay In Action

Complacency is a breeding ground for a fixed mindset. It is essentially giving us the opportunity to fall into the pit of average. Of mediocrity. Stay moving. Go to the gym. Take walks through nature. Start side hustles. Journal. Meditate. Stretch. Do things that will help you get better. Day in and day out.

Try your best to get away from distractions like TV or movies. Use them as a way to take a load off from working hard. Not as a way to escape. Your life will change if you do this. And you will start to more easily adopt a growth mindset.

See Criticism As Only Constructive

Criticism can be the best way to grow. If it is coming from a loved one, or a hater. The way we receive it may be different. But what we get from it can be the same. We can grow from it or let it affect us. There is usually some truth in things, even if it is coming from someone that absolutely hates us.

Find the truth in it. But if you simply cannot do so, then learn how you can grow from the person that you hate, that it is coming from. Or hates you. Usually when we don’t like someone, it is because they possess a certain quality or qualities that we ourselves have.

Say you see the person is just too friggin loud! Well maybe you are too loud too. Or you are jealous of them because they have broken through the need to act in a reserved way. And you wish you could do the same.

Now I know this would not apply to YOU, but you may know someone who it could 😉

Seek Out and Love Effort

When we are still, we are stagnant. But when we are progressing forward towards our worth goals and ideals, we become more and more of a success each day. But in order to keep doing so, we are going to constantly be pushing ourselves through times we want to stop. That is why you must cultivate the spirit of effort. Always pushing forward and not stopping until the job is done. Not when you are tired.

Try Different Styles of Learning

Everyone learns differently. There really isn’t one learning style for all people. You may learn in an entirely different way than someone sitting right next to you does. Try on different styles of learning. And see which one works best for you.

This can solve a lot of frustration and disappointment that comes from not learning well in school or during a time when we were really trying to do so.

Find your style and your growth mindset will ski rocket.

Love Everyone

There is no greater way to grow in a spiritual stand point than that of loving people. Love everyone. Friends. Family. Enemies. Neighbors. People who you don’t even know. It makes us feel good and makes them feel good. And whatever energy you put out in the world it comes right back to us.

Because the world isn’t happening to us. It is happening THROUGH us. Once we understand that the thoughts we have in our mind create our world, we will never think a negative thought again.

Stop Caring What People Think

We can never really settle into our true selves when we are worried about what other people think about us. We end up trying to adapt ourselves to different people. People that are actually just as worried about what we are thinking about them!

Ditch the need to adapt. Form your own style. Your own walk. Your own handshake. Your own style of speech.

If you are really going to try to be like other people, then do so in a manner that is conducive to your growth and success. Study the likes of people like Tony Robbins, Oprah Winfrey, Richard Branson, Elon Musk, Melinda Gates. These people think differently.

Settle into a nice biography of these people. Read their quotes. Embrace and take on the way they think and act. And you will become successful and take on a great growth mindset like these people have.

Don’t try to reinvent the wheel.

I have a couple great resources for you when it comes to success and growth that can get you started on thinking differently! Check them out here 🙂

601 Quotes About Success

75 Questions To Ask Yourself For Personal Growth

177 Tony Robbins Quotes

Embrace The Journey

At the end of the day, if we are looking too much to forward to the future, we miss all the growth and opportunity to soak in the life lessons along the way.

Soak in each day. Live in the moment as much as you can. This will allow you to pick up learning lessons each day that you would have missed if your were just trying to get to the goal or simply to the end of the day.

Stop Seeing Certain People As Being Superior

When we put someone on a pedestal, we automatically feel inferior. We take on the attitude that these special people were blessed more than us. That they are smarter than us. That they are better looking than us. ETC. But these people are just the same as us.

They just choose to work hard, work their ass off, and become someone. That is why we idolize them. Because we know that they executed, day in and day out, and because of this dedication, they became who they are.

But the great thing about that matter is we can be the same way. We can grind, day in and day out, become the hero of our own story. That people write stories about. That we inspire people through. And at the end of the day, become more than maybe even God himself thought we could become.

It all starts with us seeing ourselves on a level playing field. Approach the world in this manner. That no one is inferior or superior.

The only thing that is superior or inferior is how they approach their day to day life. And you can grind and become someone and something great. Because you are great already.

Build Upon Your Goals

It is easy to hit a certain level and just chill after that. Feel good about ourselves too much to where we stall. Like Rudyard Kipling says:

“If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster and treat those two imposters the same.”

What a powerful quote right? It is essentially saying to not get to high or to low. Don’t go on an ego trip with big wins. And don’t let failure go to your heart.

Right when you get a goal, celebrate but then get right back to setting a newer and bigger goal for yourself.

Laugh At Yourself More

When we take ourselves too serious, we our too rigid. We don’t do things that get us out of our comfort zone. We want to look good in front of everyone and save face. We don’t want to look like a fool or have people laugh at us.

The more we can learn to take life and things with a grain of salt the better. Allow yourself to mess up. To get laughed at. To be different.

Allowing yourself these things will let you evolve as a person. Instead of staying the same. And staying the same is the worst thing that could ever happen to us. You want to meet with death as an entirely different person than who you were when you first arrived on this earth.

Set Realistic Time Framed Goals

When we set goals with too short of time frames for the result, we get discouraged if it doesn’t happen. We write off goals as something that doesn’t work. That is hoakie.

But if we set realistic time framed goals, we begin to take positive and long term action. And when we arrive at these big goals, we feel a deep sense of fulfillment. And our lives are literally transformed forever. We are standing up inside ourselves.

And now above our old self. As we are a bigger and better version of ourselves when we hit big goals. This is where your mind and your belief in yourself expands greatly. And you never think in small terms ever again.

Growth Mindset Quotes

“Just because you haven’t found your talent doesn’t mean you don’t have one.” – Kermit The Frog
“There is no elevator to success. You have to take the stairs.”
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to just try one more time.” – Thomas Edison
“Every endeavor pursued with passion produces a successful outcome regardless of the result. For it is not about winning or losing, rather the effort put forth into producing the outcome. The best way to predict the future is to create it.” – Nick Bollettieri
“If you find a path with no obstacles, it probably doesn’t lead anywhere.” – Frank A. Clark
“No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow your progress, you’re still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.” – Tony Robbins
“Without continual growth and progress, such words as improvement, achievement and success have no meaning.” – Benjamin Franklin
“Love challenges, be intrigued by mistakes, enjoy effort and keep on learning.” – Carol Dweck
“It’s okay to not know. It’s not okay to not try.”
“It is not that I’m so smart. It’s just that I stick with it longer.” – Albert Einstein
“I’m not telling you it will be easy. I’m telling you it will be worth it.”
“Smart. Something you become, not something you are.”
“Dreams don’t work unless you do.” – John C. Maxwell
“It doesn’t matter how slow you go as long as you don’t stop.”- Confucius
“There are two ways to be happy: change the situation or change your mindset towards it.” – Robert Tew
“What did you learn today? What mistake did you make that taught you something? What did you try hard at today?” – Carol Dweck
“Learning isn’t easy. Embrace the struggle and grow.”
“To live a creative life, we must lose our fear of being wrong.”