When you hear the term ‘mindset’ what do you think of?
I immediately think of MLMs, Tony Robinson and On Becoming a God in Central Florida. Oprah springs to mind too.
I absolutely believe in the power of intent and positivity. I also believe that you can teach it and that people can benefit from paying for those services. However the mindset and manifestation industry is rife with sharks and that’s something that irks me. Most industries are rife with sharks though – weight loss, fertility, small business training, instagram marketing – so it’s probably more of a buyer beware situation than anything else.
The ‘power’ of positive thinking as a concept is also something I don’t dig. Being optimistic and concentrating on being an uplifting person rather than a Debbie Downer is great but if you’re clinically depressed? What if you live below the poverty line? What if you’re fleeing a war torn country? Or you’ve experienced trauma or you’re from a marginalised community? Positive thinking is incredibly useful but it’s really only available to the privileged. That doesn’t mean it’s not useful, it’s just important to acknowledge that it’s not available to everyone.
So now that we understand that the mindset industry can be VERY sharky and is also undeniably only available to the privileged lets have a look at what this week’s episode is all about.
Fixed vs growth mindset.
Simply put, our mindset shapes our beliefs in accomplishing something. The two categories of fixed vs growth create the basis of how most people behave. People with fixed mindset believe they’re born naturally gifted at doing somethings and are incapable of doing others whereas people with growth mindset believe they can achieve anything if they try hard enough.
According to Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, people in the latter group continue to grow through their lives acquiring new skills without reservation and actively engaging in their relationships – the other group do not.
So do you think you have a fixed or growth mindset?
That question might be harder to answer than you think.
In this episode I chat about…
• Carol Dweck’s book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.
• The difficulty of researching something that so many charlatans have taken advantage of
• How children might the answer for encouraging growth mindsets
• Growth vs Fixed mindsets
• The fact that we all assume we have a growth mindset when many of us don’t
• You can have primary and secondary mindset
• A personal story about how I have a very fixed mindset when it comes to maths and it’s to my own detriment
• Tips for encouraging a growth mindset for kids (and yourself!)
• Can a fixed mindset be ‘fixed’?
• The importance of mentors and language when it comes to fixing our mindset
If you’re feeling a bit lost and slunky, this episode is for you.
This week’s bonus is a 3 Month Mastering Your Mindset Workbook that’s available on Patreon. Just join for $5 US or $7 Australian to grab your copy – you will also get access to all of my other workbooks, guides and resources lists.
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