Achieving great extraordinary results is not the domain of those who are not willing to leave their comfort zone; it is the territory of those who are willing to push beyond the ordinary. As you begin to produce the results you want, using your critical thinking skills makes you think in specific ways to accomplish your results. This comes in the form of how your mindset is.
First, the definition of mindset is a set of beliefs or a way of thinking that determines one’s behavior, outlook and mental attitude.
Second, Understand your mindset and you understand how you accomplish things in your life. High performance organizations have growth mindsets.
Your mindset is your approach to how you see the world and how you produce results that impact your world. Think of your mindset as a filter. Everything you experience is put through your mental filter. The resulting thought is your mind analyzing and rationalizing the experience. This is the same as viewing a glass half empty or half full. Are you a pessimist or an optimist? These types of situations will help you determine if you have a naturally positive mindset or if you need to do some inner work in order to achieve the right mindset that will lead to success in your professional and personal life.
For some, their mindset is closed and focused on one thing only- getting the task completed. For others, they want to reach their goal in completing the task and maybe even going slightly beyond the expectation of the goal. So, in looking at your mindset, which do you use? Since all actions start as mere thoughts, when you set out to reach your goals, you need a mindset that will help you overcome challenges and give you the help you need to take immediate action to reach your goal(s) and not hold you back.
As an extraordinary person producing extraordinary great results, your mindset has a profound impact on the success you achieve in work and in life. You have control over your mindset. Mindsets are beliefs- beliefs about yourself and your most basic qualities. Think about your intelligence, your talents, and your personality. Are these qualities fixed traits, carved in stone and that’s that? Or are they things you can cultivate throughout your life?
You need to understand the types of mindsets that help give you the help you need for producing the great extraordinary results you strive for. An action mindset motivates you to create and manifest the best plans for achieving your strategic goals. An action mindset is about encouraging everyone to move together in the desired direction.
A collaborative mindset allows you to mobilize relationships between individuals and teams. You are most effective when you are managing not individuals but the relationships between them.
A reflective mindset allows you to see experiences in new ways, setting the stage for innovative and insightful thinking.
Carol Dweck, psychology professor at Stanford University studied mindsets and in her book, ‘Mindset: The New Psychology of Success’ differentiates between two types of mindsets: (1) Fixed and (2) Growth. These are the views people hold about their potential.
Dweck states, “A person with a fixed mindset believes we are all born with a certain set of skills and competencies. We either have a talent for something or we don’t.” Dweck believes that mindset can impact all areas of a person’s life.
In essence, if someone has a fixed mindset, they are not open to self-improvement. They mostly avoid anything new because it may show weakness, and they are apprehensive to failure because it will mean a negative statement on their abilities. As a result, these individuals do not reach their full potential.
People with a fixed mindset believe their abilities or potential level are unlikely to change through practice, application, effort and experience. This person is scared of challenges, new experiences, and prefers to repeat the tried and tested rather than learn and grow. They are usually poor at evaluating their own abilities or potential.
People with a fixed mindset can be very successful- if they are very ambitious, but their success may be short-lived. They believe talent should come naturally and they want to look good at all costs. People hold that “they are the way they are” and cannot change that. They believe that talent alone creates success.
People maintain that their intelligence and aptitude are fixed traits. They spend a lot of their time “documenting” their intelligence and aptitude instead of “developing” them.
Dweck mentions that, “If you have a full-on growth mindset, anything and everything is possible. If there is something you have an interest in, you do whatever it takes to learn it.” One with a growth mindset knows they can improve with practice, Failures, critiques, and being with those who are more successful are opportunities to learn and improve. Obstacles are glitches to overcome. The growth mindset builds motivation, drive, and a hard work ethic to learn, grow, persist, and master leading to great achievements.
People with a growth mindset, referred to as incremental theorists; see their qualities as things that can be developed through dedication and effort. They understand that no one has ever accomplished great things without years of passionate practice and learning.
This person welcomes challenges, new experiences and growth opportunities. They are better able to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses because of their confidence level. They redouble and put in more effort into what they do. They profit from their mistakes. These individuals believe they can always get better at what they do and have untapped potential. They are willing to stretch their comfort zone, and look criticism and failure as opportunities to grow.
The growth mindset is almost always preferable to the fixed mindset and should be encouraged. They create a love of learning that is essential for extraordinary accomplishments. A growth mindset leader is one who does not believe they have all the answers and will be open to consider options. There is massive optimism for the growth mindset leader. There is always a better way and we search for it.
How do you view daily experiences and challenges? It is your choice as you can change a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. Be more open and begin to learn, develop and experience your great extraordinary abilities for great extraordinary results you can produce.
With a growth mindset, you will reach higher levels of achievement. This requires a daily commitment to learn, grow and develop. “Most great business leaders have had this mindset, because building and maintaining excellent organizations in the face of constant change requires it.”
Howard Gardner in his book ‘Extraordinary Minds’ concludes exceptional individuals have “a special talent for identifying their own strengths and weaknesses.”
