Change your Mindset, Change your Life
Are you a certain somebody who believes that they cannot do Math? Or you suck at every sport? Or have no artistic abilities and cannot even draw a straight line? No matter what the task is, if you are someone who believes that you are limited to what you can and cannot do, you have a fixed mindset.
A fixed mindset is a term coined by psychologist and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, Carol Dweck, and is a term to describe a mentality where you believe that intelligence is a fixed trait that you either have or you don’t.
It is a term used to describe individuals who do not believe they can improve their skills or learn how to do something new. These people give up easily when faced with a challenge because they think that they are just not built for it.
If you have ever felt that you could not accomplish a particular goal or dream that you had, you are a victim of this self-limiting mindset.
I remember taking a cooking class when I was younger, and my teacher wanted us to bake some cupcakes. I never really spent much time in my Mum’s den (the kitchen) for two reasons: 1. If I were ever hungry, I would find snacks to eat in the pantry or run to the corner store and buy something (yup, this is why I was chubby), and 2. My Mum thinks I am clumsy and would kick me out of the kitchen in case I f**cked something up.
So here I was in this classroom with several kitchen appliances and stoves for me and my classmates excited to make some cupcakes. A whole lot of fear swelled up inside of me, a spoon full of self-doubt, and a speck of “these cupcakes taste like shit” was all it took for me never to want to learn how to cook anything again.
It was not until writing this post and trying to figure out a personal example where I have had a fixed mindset did I realize that cooking was something I did not think I would ever do well in after having a few shitty experiences.
You can learn, do, and become anything you want.
The growth mindset is the counter to the fixed mindset that you can, and should, learn to think like if you want to take control of your life and future.
In the age of the internet, where you can obtain any information you need or want in a matter of seconds, there should be no excuses. An individual with a growth mindset believes that their efforts will amount to something and feeds their desire to develop themselves.
Most people have a mixed mindset where the belief is that only some of their abilities can be improved. The skills that people find the hardest to learn or overcome are usually where our fixed mindset takes control.
To change the way that you think, you must realize that these mindsets developed and learned through environmental factors and how the people in your environment talk to you.
I might have very well tried to cook something else after cooking those cupcakes if I did not receive such negative feedback on how my cooking was the first time around.
Since my primary purpose for writing to hope to provide some inspiration to you all and help you become the best version of yourself, I have listed some ways you can change that fixed mindset of yours.
- Listen to the voice inside your head and pay mind to the conversations you have with yourself. Ask yourself if you have a fixed mindset or growth mindset whenever taking on a new task or challenge.
- Understand how fear dictates your actions. Are you not taking on that opportunity because it is not the right fit or because you are scared you might not do well?
- Recognize that the voices and conversations around you are contributing to how you make decisions. If you are around people who have a fixed mindset, you will develop one too. Surround yourself with high achieving people with growth mindsets.
- Have realistic goals and break them down into small steps. After completing those small steps, the fixed mindset will dampen, and you will realize that your goals are possible. You will start believing in the growth mindset!
- Learn the history of some of the most successful people. The tremendous late Kobe Bryant, Albert Einstein, Leonardo DaVinci, and Steve Jobs, to name a few, were all regular people who became great through hard work and dedication more than natural-born talents. Let their stories serve as motivation for your own.
If you were unable to follow along with this post, and still believe that you cannot overcome your circumstances, here is my last hail mary effort to get something to stick with you in this post.
Don’t worry about failure. Worry about the chances you miss when you don’t even try.
Sherman Finesilver
Now, with this new mindset, take control of your life and do whatever it is, you have always wanted to do. There is no better time than right now, during this quarantine, to start working towards your goals and passions. Once you change the way you think, you can change any area of your life that makes you unhappy or uncomfortable.
Heck, after writing this post, I just motivated myself to cook a delicious meal tomorrow and overcome my fixed mindset. I am about to Chef Boyardee it up, y’all.
