The Growth Mindset of Self-Leadership

Mary, a self-proclaimed people-pleaser and chronic worrier, was feeling a lot of anxiety about a decision she wanted to make, fearful of making the wrong one. When I asked her the best way she could support herself, she immediately responded, “I crave some time and space away to slow down, regroup, and just be”. While Mary was very clear about what she needed, she was not clear how to get it, feeling completely responsible for the outcome of a future site visit. She was stuck in a fixed mindset.

In her book, Mindset, Carol Dweck, renown psychologist and bestselling author, differentiates two types of mindsets. Growth Mindset focuses on improving yourself with the ability to learn and grow from your mistakes, while a Fixed Mindset focuses on proving yourself and giving up or feeling bad when you make a mistake, avoiding things with risk. Self-Leadership, the foundation of the Well-Being Coaching Initiative focuses on growing and learning about yourself, requiring a Growth Mindset.

The Growth mindset influences how you view yourself and your abilities, supporting you to persevere obstacles by being willing to practice vs having to be perfect. It fosters healthy and supportive relationships by supporting you to ask for help. The Growth Mindset helps you make better decisions to positively affect your overall well-being by being aware of when you are stuck and open to doing things differently.

After Mary’s team questioned her about different options and offered to fully support the site visit, her whole demeanor in her face and body changed. Mary said she felt lighter because she could see a way to improve her situation by doing something different. With the site visit unknown, she scheduled her much needed time off, knowing this decision was even more important than the initial one she was so anxious about making. She practiced a Growth Mindset.

We are all somewhere on the continuum having a Fixed Mindset in certain situations. The beauty of a Growth Mindset is it is a skill you can learn and develop over a lifetime to positively affect your health, relationships, work and everything else. Start today by asking one critical question about something you may be struggling with:

“What can I learn from this?”