I have a friend who is a high achiever.
He runs a bootstrapped business in the tech industry and makes over $200k/year.
My friend also has a tendency to beat himself up mentally when things don’t work out.
He fits the basic definition of having a growth mindset, which is the belief that you can improve your abilities, but he's missing three key components that were mentioned by Carol Dweck, the person who came up with the term growth mindset.
#1 People with a growth mindset celebrate progress.
Research shows that if a kid does something well and we praise their talent and intelligence, it can harm their motivation and performance in the long run.
But if we praise the kid’s effort and choices that led to some kind of progress, it cultivates a growth mindset and helps them persist when things get hard.
#2 People with a growth mindset find success in doing their best, in learning and improving.
Jackie Joyneer-Kersee is an American track and field athlete who won many Olympic medals.
Here’s a quote by Jackie mentioned in Carol’s book:
“For me, the joy of athletics has never resided in winning. I derive just as much happiness from the process as from the results. I don’t mind losing as long as I see improvement or I feel I’ve done as well as I possibly could. If I lose, I just go back to the track and work some more.”
#3 People with a growth mindset do not see failures as a measure of their competence or intelligence.
Carol said this in her book:
“In the fixed mindset, everything is about the outcome. If you fail — or if you’re not the best — it’s all been wasted. The growth mindset allows people to value what they’re doing regardless of the outcome.”
High achievers need to stop always beating themselves up for making mistakes. People with a growth mindset don’t take mistakes and failures personally. They see them as valuable information — stepping stones on their path of personal growth.
Alright, that’s it for this week. Thanks for reading!
-George 🐙