Start cultivating a growth oriented mindset with this growth mindset vs. fixed mindset activity. Doing so can improve performance at school or work and reduce anxiety!
How do you approach new opportunities and challenges? What if there was a certain way of doing so that improved your performance at the office or your kid’s performance at school? What if the same approach could help reduce burnout, anxiety, depression, and other behavioral problems? Sound too good to be true?
It’s not.
Meet fixed vs. growth mindset.
What is Growth Mindset
Before we get into how you can cultivate a growth mindset vs. fixed mindset we should probably establish a growth mindset definition, right? 😉
Growth mindset definition: A belief that innate abilities, skills, and talents are just a starting point and can be fully developed through hard work and dedication.
It’s important to understand that having a growth mindset is not the same thing as being open minded or having a positive outlook. According to Carol Dweck, Professor of Psychology at Stanford University and the pioneer of growth mindset research, conflating the growth mindset definition with being open minded or having a positive outlook is called a false growth mindset. Furthermore “Everyone is actually a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets, and that mixture continually evolves with experience.”
Bonus: If you are looking to develop a more positive mindset, consider utilizing these free printable self esteem worksheets, specifically the downloadable free printable gratitude journal template.
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
To fully understand what is growth mindset, it’s helpful to understand what is fixed mindset. After all, fixed and growth mindsets are essentially opposites, different sides of the same coin.
Someone with a fixed vs. growth mindset believes that their basic abilities, like their intelligence or talent, are fixed traits. For example, someone that has a fixed mindset and is bad at calculus believes he or she will always be bad at calculus!
If you’re still a little fuzzy on the growth mindset definition, keep reading! I’ll share growth mindset examples and tips on how to develop a growth mindset below. That additional information should provide you with a better understanding of fixed and growth mindsets.
Benefits of Growth Mindset for Kids and Adults
Why should you learn how to develop a growth mindset? There’s already so much to do … why add this to your burgeoning to-do list? The answer is the numerous benefits a growth mindset for kids and adults offers! For example, according to Mindset Health a growth mindset leads to:
- Reduced burnout.
- Reduced depression.
- Reduced anxiety.
- Fewer behavioral problems.
- Increased motivation.
- Improved academic performance, such as higher grades and overall GAP.
In addition, a growth mindset (vs. fixed mindset) may reduce stress and improve resiliency.
Bonus: A growth mindset isn’t the only thing that can help you reduce stress and anxiety. A guilt-free and fun activity (for kids and adults) that also offers these mental benefits is coloring! Find frugal and free printable coloring pages here.
How to Develop a Growth Mindset
Before diving into how to develop a growth mindset vs. a fixed mindset, understand that this is a process. It won’t happen overnight. (This goes for cultivating a growth mindset for kids or adults!) In fact, developing a growth mindset is a lifelong journey.
Here are some tips from Positive Psychology to get you started:
- Work on building your self confidence. You need to believe in yourself and your ability to grow and change for the better.
- On the flip side, acknowledge that you aren’t perfect and that you have room to grow.
- Work on seeing failure as an opportunity to learn. In fact, replace the world “failing” with “learning” in your vocabulary!
- Be curious, ask a lot of questions, and commit to learning as a life-long journey.
- Seek out and embrace challenges; get out of your comfort zone.
- Work on accepting and implementing constructive criticism. However, at the same time don’t think of “room for improvement” as being synonymous with “failure.”
- Set goals. This printable SMART goals template (PDF download) may help!
Growth Mindset Examples
The University of Minnesota offers a couple of growth mindset examples, specifically on reframing fixed mindset statements, which may be helpful as you tackle growth mindset activities like the one below.
Fixed mindset statement: I’m not good at this.
Growth mindset reframe: What am I missing?
Fixed mindset statement: I’m awesome! I’m the best at this!
Growth mindset reframe: I’m on the right track.
Fixed vs. Growth Mindset Activities
This fixed vs. growth mindset activity asks you to look at statements that come from a fixed mindset and rewrite them using a growth mindset. Use the examples from the University of Minnesota (see the previous section) as well as the definition of growth mindset to guide you! 🙂
More Fixed vs. Growth Mindset Activities and Resources
Keep working on your growth mindset vs. fixed mindset with these additional activities and resources:
- Growth Mindset Quotes
- Printable How to Develop a Growth Mindset for Kids and Adults Activity
- Growth Mindset Activities
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