Growth vs. Fixed Mindset

Last week, we talked about what a growth mindset is. As you might imagine, a fixed mindset is the exact opposite. Where someone having a growth mindset might say “I don’t know how to do this yet“, someone with a fixed mindset might say “I can’t do this”.

Warning Signs

Here are some examples of things you might say to yourself that can alert you to the fact that you’re having a fixed mindset about something:

• I can’t do that.
• I’m not naturally good at that (so I’ll never be good at it).
• He’s so talented at that (and I’ll never be as good).
• I failed at that, so I must not be able to do it.

A fixed mindset is not just believing you can’t do something. It’s the assumption that without talent, or affinity, or some cosmic determinant, you can never improve. That your situation will never improve. It’s the belief that if you were meant to do it, it will just magically and naturally happen.

The reality is that this is your mind trying to protect you from failure. It’s much easier to believe that because something is hard and/or doesn’t come easily to you, that means you’re not “meant” to do it, or that it’s something you’ll never be good at. If you try something, and fail, it doesn’t feel good. So your mind may try to make you believe that you are unable, and therefore hopefully avoid feeling bad about it again.

What’s the Difference?

In comparison, in a growth mindset, you think to yourself, “I am not good at that…yet.” You believe that failing at something means you need to look at where you failed, and work on it. You believe that if you put in effort, you can do something, even something you may not be “a natural” at. I talked more about this in my post on how to fail.

In the previous post about growth mindset, I talked about a presentation I attended where the speaker was talking about growth mindset. One of the things he used as an example was how he didn’t feel like he was talented at drawing. Instead of throwing up his hands and deciding he wasn’t capable, he signed up for classes. One of the first things they had him do was draw a self-portrait. Then, at the end of the series of classes, he drew another one. He showed them to us on the big screen at the front of the room. While he admitted it wasn’t something he was likely to pursue, the differences between the two portraits was significant.

What does that mean?

It means that even if you don’t have talent in something, it doesn’t mean you can’t improve in it. Lack of talent is not a barrier to acquiring skills.

Wait, What?

If you’re like me, when you hear that you can improve at something like drawing without having any talent, you’re probably feeling very skeptical. When I first heard the speaker saying this, I thought to myself, “No way. There’s just no way. Some stuff you’re either talented at, or not.”

It wasn’t until long after that session that it struck me: maybe, if I’m not talented at something, I won’t be an Olympic runner, or a master painter, or an illustrator. But…it doesn’t mean I can’t be better than I am today.

That’s really what it’s about. The message isn’t that you can be an Olympic runner or a master painter or an illustrator even if you have zero talent (although I’m now not ruling out the possibility). The message is that if doing x thing is important to you, the amount of talent you have doesn’t matter. You can still get better, you can still grow your skills, you can still improve.

You can still change yourself. It’s not only possible…but with effort, it’s very, very likely.

Convinced or not convinced? Tell me why in comments! If you’ve experienced this before, in which additional ways have you found a fixed mindset creeping into your life?