7 Growth Mindset Myths That Keep You Stuck
There are SO MANY growth mindset myths flying about the place which makes it hard to keep track of.
Over the years, the concept of a growth mindset has gained significant attention and popularity, especially among productivity and self-development gurus and coaches.
Because let’s be real EVERYONE wants to claim to have a growth mindset and it is easier to bend the truth than to admit that you still have some areas for development.
And even I can say that as a Mindset and Productivity Coach for perfectionists…
Hopefully, by the end of this blog post, you will have a much better idea of fact and fiction.
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What is a growth mindset?
A growth mindset is the belief that your abilities and intelligence can be developed through hard work, dedication, effort and learning.
It is a theory that was popularised by psychologist Carol Dweck, and I highly recommend you check out her TED Talk called ‘The power of believing that you can improve’.
People with a growth mindset see challenges as opportunities to improve and understand that failure is part of the learning process.
They are resilient and display grit throughout projects and goals they are working towards.
What is the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset?
A fixed mindset is much more limited and believes that skills, abilities and intelligence are static and unchangeable. For example, you’re either smart or you’re not smart.
It is the idea that you have to play with the cards you are dealt rather than actively make new choices and create a new reality for yourself.
Here are a few key differences between having a growth mindset and a fixed mindset:
- Belief in abilities: intelligence can be developed through effort, practice and learning VS intelligence and abilities are static unchangeable traits
- Approach to challenges: trying new challenging things and learning from them VS avoiding challenges because you’re scared of failing
- Reaction to failure: reflecting on your past failures and mistakes so that you can learn from them VS losing motivation and giving up when things don’t go to plan
- Perception of effort: you know that working hard and smart pays off so you are willing to put the effort in VS you only working on tasks you KNOW you will be good at because having to put in effort means you are not talented/smart
- Response to feedback: you actively seek constructive feedback because you know it will help you in the long run VS you feel defensive when someone gives you constructive feedback because you take it as personal criticism
- Opinion on the success of others: you feel inspired and motivated when you see other people succeeding because it means your dreams are possible too VS you feel threatened by other people’s successes and you negatively compare yourself to them
Why is having a growth mindset important?
There are many reasons why having a growth mindset is important.
The obvious reasons are that you are more likely to grow and develop as a person which gives you a MUCH better chance of actually achieving your goals.
Here are a few more benefits of having a growth mindset:
- Lifelong learning and skill development
- More resilient and able to bounce back from setbacks
- More likely to take calculated risks and innovate
- Eager to try new things and explore creative activities
- Perform better at work and on projects they care about
- Less likely to get stuck in perfectionist cycles
- Lower stress and anxiety levels
7 Common Growth Mindset Myths
1. You either have a growth mindset or you don’t
The truth is, that mindsets are not fixed. We all have a mixture of both growth and fixed mindsets in different areas of our lives.
For example, I know I have a growth mindset when it comes to studying psychology and learning about different self-development theories BUT at the same time, a big part of me believes I am always going to fail at maths.
Me and mathematics don’t get along.
If you were to throw a random simple multiplication at me e.g. ‘What’s 7×8?’ my brain will automatically shut down without even thinking about it.
…It’s 56, right?
So while we won’t necessarily have a growth mindset in all areas of our lives, the goal is to develop one more consistently over time.
So yes, one day I will work on my maths phobia.
2. Having a growth mindset is the same as being open-minded
Having an open mind is a really great thing because it enables you to think outside of the box and listen to other people’s opinions. However, it is not necessarily the same as having a growth mindset.
A growth mindset is highly dependent on your belief that you can improve through effort and learning.
You can have an open mind without a growth mindset.
For example, you might listen to other people’s opinions who are different from yours but you don’t make any effort to learn from them and actively make changes to your own working habits.
3. Anyone can do anything if they put their mind to it
Unfortunately, having a growth mindset doesn’t guarantee you will be successful in anything you put your mind to.
It does however increase your chances of being successful but it’s not a magic wand.
You can try your hardest at being the greatest basketball player in the world but it will be a struggle if you’re only 4ft 11. Not necessarily impossible but highly unlikely.
4. Mistakes make you smarter
It’s not the mistake itself that makes you smarter, it is HOW you deal with mistakes that will help you develop as a person.
Imagine how smart we all would be if all we had to do was make mistakes to automatically improve our intelligence or skills.
Life would be in easy mode!
The truth is, that you need to be able to reflect on the reasons for your mistake and identify ways you can prevent yourself from making the same mistake in the future.
The process of reflection, analysis, seeking constructive feedback and implementing lessons learnt is HOW you increase your intelligence
5. Positive thinking is the same as having a growth mindset
Having a growth mindset doesn’t mean you have rose-tinted glasses on all of the time.
In fact, you need to be able to ACKNOWLEDGE challenges in the first place before you’re able to see them as opportunities for growth.
It’s about learning from your challenges, adapting and moving forward despite obstacles.
Which is very different from ignoring challenges or even worse lying to yourself and forcing yourself to see your challenges as the best thing that ever happened to you.
You want to have a clear idea about the situation and make decisions based on that information, it’s not about ignorance.
6. You don’t have down days if you have a growth mindset
A lot of people mistakenly think that you never have down days or times where you are self-critical if you have a growth mindset.
The truth is, people with growth mindsets are still HUMAN!
You will still feel the full range of human emotions because you are not an unfeeling AI robot who has to keep pushing through no matter what is going on around you.
Having a growth mindset means you regularly reflect and review areas of development while allowing yourself to feel your feelings. You just don’t let your feelings and limiting beliefs define you or keep you stuck.
7. Once you have a growth mindset, you will have it forever
I wish this one could be true! One and done.
The truth is sometimes life happens. Sometimes we get knocked down and start to feel jaded by life.
Sometimes we think we know it all and have seen everything we need to see to make a decision.
You may ebb and flow between fixed and growth mindsets throughout your whole life and between different areas of your life.
It is ridiculously easy to slip back into having a fixed mindset when life gets hard but the key is to build in regular review points and use affirmations to help you stay on track.
What growth mindset myth surprised you the most?
I hope you enjoyed this blog post about common growth mindset myths.
Continuing to believe these growth mindset myths will actually keep you stuck in a fixed mindset and we don’t want that to happen to you!
Making an effort to develop a growth mindset in all areas of your life is one of the best things you can do for your mental health, wellbeing and likelihood of achieving success.
Did any of these myths surprise you and how are you going to learn from your mistake?
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