Cultivating a Growth Mindset: Embracing Change as an Opportunity

“The only way to make sense out of change is to plunge into it, move with it, and join the dance.” – Alan Watts

Successful entrepreneurs and business owners know that the only thing that stays the same is that things will change. While this may be a commonly accepted truth, some still cling tightly to the status quo. Embracing change is a skill that comes easily to some but is challenging to others. However, to advance, both in your personal and professional life, understanding that change is an opportunity to grow shouldn’t be ignored.

What Is a Growth Mindset?

In its most broad sense, a growth mindset is the belief that intelligence, talents, and skills can be developed and improved continuously. One part of having a growth mindset entails having faith in yourself and the perseverance to push past adversity and mistakes. Those with a growth mindset believe their abilities aren’t set in stone and can be nurtured to develop further. The Harvard Business Review reports that individuals with a growth mindset tend to be more successful than those who aren’t.

The opposite of having a growth mindset is what’s known as a fixed mindset. A fixed mindset is the belief that no matter how hard an individual tries to achieve something, their abilities and skills cannot significantly increase. Those with a fixed mindset tend to feel that only certain people are born with a specific skill or talent. Fortunately, this isn’t true. However, those with a fixed mindset can find it difficult to see that there is another way of thinking.

Characteristics of a Growth Mindset

Having a fixed mindset doesn’t foster any real growth. If you believe your talents, skills, perception, and abilities are fixed, you’ll have great difficulty moving forward. Believing that you don’t have what it takes to be successful will ensure that you aren’t. Fortunately, individuals with a grown mindset have similar characteristics and can be followed.

Traits of a growth mindset include:

• Embracing Challenges: Individuals with a growth mindset welcome obstacles as opportunities for growth. These challenges push them to learn how to overcome these unexpected obstacles.
• Persistence: Despite setbacks, these individuals continuously move forward, even when faced with difficulties. It’s not about the number of times they fail but the number of times they try again.
• Resilience: The ability to remain calm while facing challenges and adversities is a common trait of those with a growth mindset. Bouncing back from setbacks and coping with stress helps create a stronger person.
• Effort: Nothing worth gaining comes easy. Valuing hard work and knowing it will pay off in the long run is beneficial for personal and professional growth.
• Learning from Feedback: Using criticism constructively to enhance skills and knowledge is vital to embracing a growth mindset. Keeping an open mind and being able to accept criticism is vital.
• Embracing Change: Viewing change as a chance for development and improvement is a strong motivator for success. Everything in life changes, and the ability to embrace it as a positive instead of a negative allows for less stress and turns change into opportunities instead of problems.

Why Is Having a Growth Mindset Important?

To be fair, not everyone sees the importance of having a growth mindset. Some people are happy to remain stagnant and in a constant state of arrested development. As we say, “Ignorance is bliss.” However, a growth mindset is essential for individuals who want to advance their careers, knowledge, and even their happiness.

It all comes down to your life expectations. Feeling like you’re stuck and believing that you weren’t born with the talent of learning new skills is the easiest way to remain stuck. If you want more out of life, you can do so by adopting a growth mindset.

Benefits of Embracing Change and a Growth Mindset

Embracing change with a growth mindset has almost endless benefits. Those who embrace this way of thinking see the glass as half full and the world as their oyster. Imagine waking up every morning with the feeling of unlimited success as opposed to feeling as if you peaked in high school.

Here are just a few of the many benefits of embracing change:

• Personal Growth and Development: It can be said that when we stop learning, we stop growing as people. Those with a growth mindset love learning new things and don’t see them as a chore; they see them as opportunities to grow.
• Adaptability and Resilience: Life will always throw us the unexpected. Rich or poor, educated or not, the occasional curveball is going to happen. Individuals with a growth mindset are able to adapt to life’s changes more easily and have the resilience to face challenges.
• Increased Creativity and Innovation: Seeing change as a puzzle to be solved keeps the brain engaged and active. People who embrace change instead of fighting it become much better at solving problems and coming up with innovative solutions.

Is It Possible to Develop a Growth Mindset?

Absolutely! Your limited beliefs are the only thing holding you back from the endless possibilities of having a growth mindset. Making a few changes to how you view the world and your place in it can help to move you from a fixed mindset to the better alternative. Redefining the way you view certain things can truly change your perspective. Here are several suggestions for how to do so:

• Acknowledge your imperfections: We all have them. Hiding them from ourselves means we’ll never be able to overcome them.
  
• Viewing change as a natural part of life: The only thing that stays the same is that things will change. Accepting this is a natural part of life allows us to become less resistant to change.
• Seeing setbacks as stepping stones to success: Setbacks are wonderful learning opportunities and should never be viewed as a negative thing. Through trial and error, we learn what works and what doesn’t.
• Redefine “failing” as “learning”: Much like seeing setbacks as stepping stones to success, seeing failure as a learning tool is a positive way to gain experience and knowledge.
• Surround yourself with positive people: Learning the growth mindset through osmosis can help you see things optimistically. Spend more time with those you admire. This can be through a formal mentoring program or simply surrounding yourself with successful people.

Growth Mindset and Embracing Change: Start Today

We have two choices in life. We can embrace change and have a growth mindset or fight the losing battle of change and stay stuck with a fixed mindset. Only one of these choices will ensure that we move forward in life, embrace continuous learning and growth, and be successful.

Are you ready to take your life to the next level? Connect with Ryan Niddel, the CEO of MIT45, who also sits on the board of many quickly growing companies. With a track record of over 700 business success stories, Ryan embodies a seasoned business leader, innovator, and expert in optimizing businesses across marketing, sales, operations, and service.