Have you ever taken one of those personality quizzes on Buzzfeed? They tell you what type of person you are and who you’re going to end up with based on how you answer a series of questions. An even more extensive form of these personality quizzes are personality assessments like the Myers-Briggs test or the Enneagram test. These each answer a series of in-depth questions to understand the makeup of your personality, which will then indicate how you make decisions and accept/give love.
Do you know what each of these quizzes/assessments have in common? They look at the basic principles of fixed versus growth mindset in your daily understandings and then apply to your personality as a whole. Fixed mindsets are beliefs one has about his/herself that they believe cannot be changed such as character, intelligence, and natural abilities. Growth mindsets are the things we believe can be changed. These two sets of beliefs determine your behavior and ultimately your life. Your belief of what can be changed and not be changed will guide you into the areas in which you challenge yourself or the ones in which you decide to give up.
For instance, if you fundamentally believe that you are not good in science, you will subconsciously never apply yourself in your science classes, never go for the science majors, and potentially never involve yourself in the extracurricular science activities. This is because your fixed mindset has taught you that it is fundamentally impossible for you to ever succeed in science, so you don’t.
A growth mindset would look at your science hindrance as an opportunity to work harder in order to achieve more. A growth mindset has the door open on the possibility of succeeding in science. A fixed mindset has the door shut, locked, and the key thrown away so that no change could ever occur.
The image below from Dr. Carol Dweck perfectly showcases the harm in having a fixed mindset and how it not only affects our beliefs of ourselves but our overall emotional intelligence.
It is important to note that there are tools you can use to overcome a fixed mindset and transform it into a growth mindset. Another amazing author, Angela Duckworth, has written a book (you can purchase here!) about GRIT - which is her self described understanding of the combination of passion and perseverance to overcome any obstacle (hello, growth mindset!). The book personally helped me and i'm sure it will do wonders for you! She even has a GRIT test where you can see how much GRIT you have.
I once saw a quote and it said, “Ultimately, what you believe about yourself is true.” If you believe you can do something, then you can and if you believe you can’t, then you won’t. It’s as simple as that. Your thoughts have power and will guide you into your life. Are your current thoughts guiding you into a life worth living? If not, it’s time to shake up some things and add more GRIT into it!
