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Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

CJHere2Help March 13th

Hello everyone! My name is CJ, I look forward to interacting with all of you!

        Curiosity is a powerful tool that can help us better ourselves by approaching opportunities that allow us to grow. The type of mindset that a person adopts can affect their behavior, achievements, and overall well-being. The two core mindsets as popularized by psychologist Carol Dweck are the growth mindset and the fixed mindset. A growth mindset is a belief that individuals can develop and improve their skills, abilities, and intelligence through learning, effort, and perseverance. Individuals with growth mindsets see challenges as opportunities to grow and improve their skills and abilities. This is in contrast to a fixed mindset, where individuals believe that their abilities are inherent traits that cannot be significantly changed. 

        The belief that improvement is possible affects whether or not someone will improve. This is why it is important to try to foster a growth mindset. Having a growth mindset allows us to be vulnerable, embrace change, and grow from our experiences. To help shift towards a growth mindset it’s important to embrace challenges. View challenges as an opportunity to strengthen your skills rather than a threat to self-worth. Whether you succeed or fail, your skills will come out better than they were before. It’s important to embrace failure as a natural part of the learning process rather than a reflection of your abilities. Viewing your setbacks as opportunities for reflection, learning, and improvement will help guide you toward personal growth.

        I will leave you all with a quote and some questions for personal reflection. Michael Jordan is widely regarded as the greatest basketball player of all time. He was once asked that in an interview, in which he said, “You are only mentioning the successes. For me to become the greatest basketball player, I missed 9,000 shots when I was playing in the NBA.”


Do you have a growth mindset or a fixed mindset? If you have a growth mindset, what factors or events in your life do you believe helped you foster this mindset? If you have a fixed mindset, what do you believe can help you shift towards a growth mindset?

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bellaecco March 14th

I am finding that practicing active listening is part of a keeping a growth mindset because you remain open and curious without judgement for an extended period of time.

Tinywhisper11 March 15th

@CJHere2Help I have a growth mindset😁. Tw) most of my fingers are missing, and being half paralysed movement is limited, a few years ago I couldn't hold a pencil, but I've worked really hard and now I can do all sorts of art and crafts 😁 ❤ I'm very proud of my work ❤ I'm learning new things each day, not afraid to show my vulnerable side. We can achieve great things if we believe we can 😁😁❤

gives you a giant tiny hug ❤

NicoletteF March 26th

@CJHere2Help

I'd like to believe that I possess a growth mindset, although I do think that I could work to improve my mindset even more. One of the main factors that helped me to develop this mindset is perseverance; by continuing to persist even in the face of challenges, I have learned that I am capable of much more than I may have initially thought when first being confronted with a particular problem. Particularly in an academic context, I have pushed myself to endure even when I am finding great difficulty in understanding a concept. Over time, I have learned that with enough dedication, I can understand challenging concepts, which has helped me greatly in slowly developing a growth mindset. 

Nwiirxz March 31st

@CJHere2Help Hello, CJ! Thanks for initiating this insightful discussion on the power of mindset.

I resonate strongly with the concept of a growth mindset. Throughout my life, I've come to realize that embracing challenges and viewing setbacks as opportunities for growth has been instrumental in my personal development journey. Surrounding myself with supportive mentors and role models who embody a growth mindset has also played a significant role in fostering this perspective.

For those who may lean towards a fixed mindset, I believe that cultivating self-awareness and challenging limiting beliefs are key steps toward embracing a growth mindset. By reframing setbacks as opportunities for learning and focusing on the process rather than solely the outcome, individuals can gradually shift their mindset towards one of growth and resilience.

Thank you for sharing Michael Jordan's inspiring quote and prompting us to reflect on our own mindsets. It's a reminder that success is often built on a foundation of resilience, perseverance, and the willingness to learn and grow from failure.