Fixed vs Growth Mindset; beliefs that shape your life (2024)

I came across the “growth mindset” concept a couple of years ago while looking for team coaching techniques for my previous UX agency teams and design students.

One story stuck with me; a designer from my team was handling negative feedback poorly. She was very defensive and reluctant to acknowledge her role in the poor performance. Even mild suggestions could trigger her temper, and then she would shut down for the entire week. She was not a bad designer; she was one of the greatest we had. A “top talent.”

Eventually, her managers started avoiding her. “I can’t handle this right now. I’m going to let her have this project,” I heard one of them saying.
On one occasion, after deciding on a different concept than one she designed, she was quiet for the entire day, and for the next three days, she was sick.
“Why is she like that? She is so talented!” We collectively thought.

I was frustrated and looked for books and articles. Was she a bad recruit? Is this an ego thing? Was it something we did? Maybe our feedback technique?
I did find the answer, and it sure was a humbling experience. To my surprise, I found I was having a lot of those same issues myself. I was the one who needed some coaching! And then, I got obsessed with it.

The growth mindset concept has been around for a while and is passionately quoted in a wide range of fields, from education to sports. It was coined by professor Carol Dweck in her book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. Dweck and her colleagues studied kids and discovered two groups: those who pushed through challenges, believing they could improve, and others who pulled away from a challenge, believing their abilities are limited.

Meet your mindsets

Once you understand growth and fixed mindsets, you can’t unknow it — you’ll see it everywhere. In a nutshell:

Individuals who have a growth mindset believe in challenging themselves with uncomfortable hard work, a required strategy, and input from others in order to keep improving their talents and capabilities.
They tend to achieve more than those with a fixed mindset, who believe their talents are innate gifts, make sure their activities revolve around building and protecting their worthiness, and enjoy completing comfortable tasks.

Take this story, for example:

Fraya and Gwyneth worked on a big project, but the launch went really bad.

Fraya felt like a failure and even somewhat humiliated. She felt her efforts were wasted. She even questioned whether or not she is worthy of her title and role. The next time her superior will ask for her help in launching a similar project, she’ll probably refuse, saying she’s not the right person for the job, “I’m not good at this.” Instead, she plans to focus on other things she knows she’s good at. Fraya has a fixed mindset.

Gwyneth was extremely disappointed with the failed launch, but she managed to recover after a short period of time. She’s grateful for everything she has learned throughout her journey so far, and she understands how -while failing- she has improved her knowledge and skills as a result. She is thankful for that, and every day the pain of the failure subsides. She’s thinking, “I’m not good at this…yet.” She is focused on the process. She sees this as a temporary setback and a lesson. She’s even curious about how she can grow when the next challenge arises. Gwyneth has a growth mindset.

Behind the mindsets — beliefs 🙌

- “I can’t do this homework. I’m just not good at math.”
- “This will be an easy job. I’m a natural-born manager.”

Individuals with fixed mindsets believe that intelligence and abilities are something that you either have or don’t. If you’re a “natural,” you have it forever. Everything else is something that you probably don’t have. So they stick with what they’re already good at. When it comes to other abilities that they don’t have or are not their “forte,” there’s no point in even trying hard to achieve them.

Fixed mindset belief #1 — Innate talents
If you’re a “natural,” you’ll have this talent forever. Everything else is not, and will never be, your “forte” — so there’s no point in trying hard to achieve it.

The core idea at the heart of the fixed mindset is actually profound — using one’s innate tendencies, their “strengths,” can help them achieve more and improve their potential. While strength theories are solid, there are side effects; fixed mindset people also believe they know what they’re good at by the difficulty of their effort — when you’re good at something, then it must be easy, and you won’t make any mistakes. And preferably it should be hard for anybody else.

Fixed mindset belief #2 — Good at something = easy
When you’re good at something, then it must be easy, and you won’t make any mistakes. And preferably it should be hard for anybody else.

So if you’re using your “strength” on something, but it’s unexpectedly difficult, then something must be wrong. Either you don’t really have this strength, or you’re in a “wrong place” where your strengths can’t be used.

- “This project is complicated for me. I’m probably in the wrong line of work.”
- “The launch went pretty bad. All our efforts went down the drain.”
- “I always thought I was good at drawing, but I can’t finish this one. I guess drawing isn’t really my thing.”

People with a fixed mindset are always concerned about how they look and their worthiness. They want to succeed without working too hard for it; they sometimes so truly believe that they’re “entitled” to succeed, without even having to make an effort, that they become frustrated or angry when they don’t. They are terrified of making mistakes and failure. When they do fail, they feel humiliated — so they stay away from truly challenging situations.

- “How can I show my face around the office after this horrible mistake. Everyone knows that I’m a loser now.”
- “I will never again take on global projects after this experience.”

Fixed mindset belief #3 — Success should come without any actual challenges. Actual challenge means a real chance of unknown, stress, and obsticales- and chance of failure. Actual challenge is terrifing, because you’d be humiliated when it happens.

Growth minded people believe that their intelligence and abilities can grow and improve, so they look for ways to keep improving. They look for real challenges because they know deep down inside that every time they feel their brain stress, it means it’s getting smarter. Though they are not happy about failing, they know that this is an important lesson they need to learn to master something new.

Growth mindset belief #1 — I can grow
Intelligence and abilities can grow and improve, so they look for ways to keep improving.

Growth mindset belief #2 — Hardship = Growth
They look for real challenges because they believe that every time they feel their brain stress, it’s getting smarter.

Growth mindset belief #3 — Failure is an opportunity to learn.

In both mindsets, people want to succeed and actually dedicate their day-to-day to being successful. They have a different idea about what “success” is and which efforts can actually help them achieve it. In both mindsets, people can be open-minded, flexible, or have a positive outlook.

Oh, one more thing. We all have both of these mindsets all the time; they’re constantly battling it out in our minds. But knowing about them can help us master our mind and flex toward fulfilling more of our potential and being happy because that’s what a growth mindset is all about.

Those limiting beliefs do not only affect the way you perceive yourself; they also affect how you see others:
“I/they can’t do it,” “I’m / they are not worthy,” “I/they don’t belong here.” Those are limiting beliefs, and they can hold you back whether you are a collaborator, a parent, or a coach, or with any other relationship, you have with people around you.

Once you recognize the fixed mindset in your beliefs, changing it is no easy task. I always keep the mindset book on my table to keep me honest and growing. Challenging moments are colored very differently when you see them through the lens of a growth mindset.

There is so much more to learn about the growth mindset and how to flourish it in your life, but remember, the seed of it all is in your beliefs.

“Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t — you’re right.“ — Henry Ford

Join me in the next article — Growth Mindset Fundamentals #2- the Journey. We’ll learn to recognize everyday fixed mindset pitfalls and how to anticipate them with a ready-made response through the mindset journey.

What was your fixed/growth mindset realization?
What did you do to overcome it?