How to Develop a Growth Mindset

What’s the first name that pops up in your head to match this line: he “lacks imagination and has no good ideas.”

You probably didn’t guess Walt Disney, the famous man behind the mouse.

Yet, he got fired for this exact reason. 

How do you bounce back and prove your boss wrong?

By creating the most famous theme park the world’s ever seen and inspire millions of children and adults alike. 

But this success didn’t come easy for Mr. Disney after getting fired from his job.

He repeatedly failed to introduce Mickey Mouse to the real world. The mouse was too scary and would terrify people.

Imagine being in Walt Disney’s shoes for a moment.

How would you react? Most people would crumble under the weight of their ego. Worse, they prevent themselves from ever having to deal with that situation again.

That’s why there’s only 1 Disneyland. 

But how did Disney face such criticism and bounce back from that experience? And more importantly, how can you do the same?

Of course, you don’t have to build the new Disneyland. But can we agree that there’s something to learn from Disney’s mindset which can help you to build confidence?

Your mindset is the driving force behind your decisions and actions. And it’s these two components that have the greatest impact on how successful you become.

The growth mindset can help you to do this and improve your ability to deal with setbacks. 

Key Take-Aways

• The growth mindset is a powerful tool to overcome self-doubt and the fear of judgment.
• Change your meaning of success from results-oriented to action-oriented.
• Failures are necessary stepping stones towards success.
• Celebrate the amount of action you take – not the outcome.
• In every situation, seek to learn something new and ask for feedback.

Growth vs Fixed Mindset

The growth versus the fixed mindset is what we will refer to throughout this article. But understand that mindsets come in all shapes and sizes. The amount of mindsets is equal to the number of people alive today. 

Every person is unique.

Fortunately, research helps us to better understand the great complexity of human psychology. And the most popular piece of research on mindsets comes from Professor Carol Dweck, outlined in her book: Growth Mindset.

And you might have heard of it.

Professor Dweck’s research leads us to understand mindsets more easily. She makes the brilliant split between the categories: growth and fixed mindset.

The essential difference between the two is this: 

• With the growth mindset, you believe that you can learn anything with effort. 
• With the fixed mindset, you believe that your talent and genetics are the drivers in your success. Or in other words, without the right genetics, you better stop trying. 

Hopefully, you see how developing a growth mindset is much more powerful than a fixed mindset. To clarify this statement, this is how I see the difference:

• The growth mindset enables you to learn and become better.
• The fixed mindset gives you an excuse to stay lazy and blame the world for all your shortcomings.

If you want to learn a skill, build a business, and create more success for yourself, don’t give up after trying once.

Do you know this quote from Thomas Edison when he failed in inventing the lightbulb for the ten-thousandth time?

I have not failed 10,000 times—I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.

– Thomas Edison

Imagine that Edison would’ve given up after a couple of failures…

Of course, even if Edison wouldn’t have made it happen, someone else would’ve picked it up after him. The lightbulb would eventually see the light (bad pun intended). 

But on how would you then feel in the shoes of Edison? On a personal level, Edison’s life wouldn’t have been as much fun.

And what if we switch from Edison back to Disney’s shoes. It’s far more likely that Disneyworld would’ve never existed if it wasn’t for Walt Disney’s persistence.

If you’re not convinced yet, let’s dig deeper and peel off the exact layers that make the growth mindset so powerful for each individual. Yes, that includes you too.

Understanding the Big Idea

The growth mindset is a powerful change in your life. It all comes down to a subtle change in what you believe. But it’s a change that’s very empowering for every individual.

Why? 

Because it helps you overcome the fear of judgment and self-doubt. It helps you to become more self-confident and gets you to take action.

The drawback?

Well, you’ve to put work and effort into the equation if you want to become successful.

And that’s exactly what holds people back from making the shift to the growth mindset. Life is much easier when you stay stuck within the fixed frame.

But at what cost?

The cost is huge. You won’t achieve the things you want to. Toxic thoughts become more dominant and decrease the quality of your life. And you attract people who’re like-minded and keep you down once you achieve a small success.

If Walt Disney would’ve focused his energy on justifying the reason for why he got fired, he would’ve never persisted.

The growth mindset is challenging because it requires you to take full responsibility, put in some effort, and persist through challenges.

For most people, this is a cocktail they rather not drink.

But once you take a sip of it, you’ll learn that the world changes in unimaginable ways.

Yet, it’s hard. But the payoff of developing a growth mindset comes with more rewards than the cost of entry. 

It’s the struggle where you’ll find more joy and fulfillment. 

Besides, taking full responsibility gives you more freedom too.

Doing what’s scary is the exact thing worth doing.

Why is a Growth Mindset Important in Your Life?

The growth mindset teaches you a fundamental difference in your way of thinking. 

Fast and short-term results dominate how society thinks and acts. How many individuals and companies play for the long game? Even big financial institutions put short-term results on a pedestal. 

The growth mindset breaks this curse.

Because with the growth mindset you shift your focus to the process rather than the outcome. This is a subtle difference but changes how you go about everything.

It’s also a great cure for your fear of judgment.

Because this shift means you detach your self-worth from the outcome and attach your worth to the amount of action you take. 

Judge yourself for the amount of action you take and your willingness to fail.

This is a small but important change in your way of thinking. Because you are in complete control over the amount and quality of actions you take. On the flipside, outcomes are always dependent on many other variables outside yourself. 

The growth mindset destroys procrastination.

These are the new higher quality questions you should ask yourself to level up your life: 

• What did you try?
• Did you do it with quality?
• Did you try enough?
• What did you learn?

Notice what’s not included in the picture above…

… the notion of failure or success.

Because it doesn’t matter whether you fail or succeed. It’s all about growing and falling in love with the process.

This is the secret to personal mastery. 

So if you want to build skills, attract more success, or live in abundance financially, adopting a growth mindset is the fastest way to make it happen. 

A Quick Word on Talent 

Talent exists and it can help you to get a head-start. 

But talent is also overrated. 

Because either you have a talent and working hard isn’t necessary or you don’t have talent, but why would you try it at all?

Both statements are flawed at best.

Even top athletes like basketball players Kobe Bryant (R.I.P. Kobe) and Michael Jordan prove that talent isn’t your lottery ticket to success. 

Because did Kobe and Michael have talent? Likely. But what they had more than any other basketballer in their league, was a sickening work ethic. 

When you listen to interviews with Kobe, he always stresses the importance of practice and the continuous process of learning. Even when he was at his absolute best, Kobe still didn’t leave anything to chance and always sought to get even better.

His focus wasn’t on the result of the game or winning the championship. His focus was on getting better, no matter the outcome of the game. That’s how he got that good.

And that’s the power of the growth mindset.

Developing a Growth Mindset

The key to developing a growth mindset is making the shift to start focusing on the process, rather than the results. The following 7 steps help you to make this shift happen.

And the more you practice it, the more the effect accumulates.

It’s like making money.

Your first 100K is the most difficult in business because once you learn how to get there, it’s a matter of multiplying the exact thing again and again.

Developing your mindset works in the same way.

Here’s a final tip: consistency is the key. So make sure to use sticky notes to get into the habit of repetition. Bookmark this page so you can scan it every morning and ingrain it into your memory.

Step 2. The Why Before You Commit

You’re still reading this because you’ve decided to take the courage to improve your life. And that’s a great first step by itself!

The next step is super important.

Because although most people decide to change at some point, almost no one takes the time to figure out why they want it. 

And guess what? 

Without knowing why it’s super difficult to stick to it in the long run.

This is the reason why people often fail at losing weight, stop smoking or start an exercising routine.

They start strong but once challenges arise, it becomes too difficult to persist.

You see, if you want to become successful at anything, you must clarify where you want to go and why you want to go there.

Intensifying your emotions help to anchor it deep inside the cells of your body. Here are some questions to help you drive the emotional intensity:

• Why is it necessary for you to develop a growth mindset?
• What will happen to your life if you get stuck with a fixed mindset?
• What will your life look like once you’ve developed a growth mindset?

Here’s a super-powerful question that drives many of my own decisions:

When I look back at this moment once I’m old, will I regret not making this decision?

Step 2. Change Your Beliefs about Success

What does success mean to you?

Answers typically are something about driving a Lamborghini, having a beautiful and fun girlfriend that other men look at, or traveling around the world. 

But have you ever taken time out to determine what success means to you?

It’s not that success can’t mean driving a Lamborghini. The question is why is this important to you?

Because there are so many examples of people who should’ve been happy according to society’s rules, but are not. Look at the sheer number of “successful people” who struggled with themselves, turned to alcohol abuse, or died of a drug overdose? 

What does success mean to you, and why?

For me, I measure success in doing something that you love to do, most of the time, whilst not having to worry about the basic needs for survival. 

Of course, there are more elements to it, such as high-quality relationships. But I believe these elements become easy if you’ve your foundation right.

Ask yourself the question of why it matters at least 3 times to uncover the real reason.

Understanding this reason makes the process much more enjoyable and developing a growth mindset easier.

Step 3. Change Your Beliefs about Failure 

Why is public speaking ranking so high on our fear scale? 

For starters, you analyze yourself in every detail and judge yourself accordingly… 

The people watching you will judge you…

And if you say something wrong or inaccurate, or if you forget what you wanted to say, you’ll lose your status and dignity…

If this matches your way of thinking, it doesn’t come to a surprise that you fear failure. 

And I know it, because I even avoided answering any question of the teachers back in school, fearing the potential judgment of my classmates. 

Fear is the dream killer, the silent voice that pushes us to lose our passion in a vain attempt to seek safety.

– Seth Godin

But you know what’s so fascinating about this whole thing? We all know that failure is a necessary step towards success. There’s no way around it. And we all crave a certain level of success.

Yet, we’re crippled by the judgment of people we don’t even know.

It’s the default setting for most people, especially introverts.

Why is that? 

Is it because of our educational system? Is it because of social media? Or is the marketing world to blame for our insecurities?

Honestly, I don’t know the answer to that. 

But I do know that you can take responsibility for many things that you control. You’re the only person who can decide to change what this all means to you and how you act accordingly. 

And when you succeed at that, you can start making an impact within your social circle.

The good thing about a growth mindset is that your fear of judgment fades away as you’re moving towards a process-oriented life.

Don’t get me wrong, it does take time.

But it’s also fun to see how you start to give fewer fucks about failure the judgment of others. 

It’s one of the most important ingredients for happiness.

It’s also interesting to a standstill by the fact that others feel the need to judge. What does it say over them and how they’re mentally wired?

Would a happy person judge?

Change your beliefs and you’ll change your perspective. It allows you to become more successful and happier.

Step 4. Lean into Opportunities and Challenges

What do you think is the thing people fear the most?

Spiders? 

Heights? 

Public speaking?

According to Susan Cain, author of Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, our biggest fear is our belief that we can’t deal with what happens after we fail.

This explains why you often overthink all sorts of unlikely scenarios. It’s our instinctual fight or flight response that tries to determine the situation at hand.

And this is exactly how you miss a great bunch of opportunities.

Even though you consciously know that most of what you fear won’t hurt or kill you. 

And here’s some truth that may empower you, fear never goes away as you continue to grow and rise to new challenges.

It’s not about getting rid of fear, it’s about getting comfortable with it.

Taking massive amounts of action destroys fear. Or at least, you get so much experience with it, that you start to view fear differently. One that’s very beneficial in your journey to become the best version of yourself.

You can face any challenge that arises and persevere.

You’re without a doubt much more capable than you think.

So how can you act despite this fear?

Commit to a challenge before you start thinking.

Whether that’s giving a presentation or anything else that scares you, commit before you think.

Immediately after you do that, doubts and insecurities arise. That’s normal and you should expect this to happen. 

Here’s a tip: enjoy the hormonal cocktail inside your body if you can. It sounds crazy, but you can condition yourself to enjoy fear.

Once you’ve committed, you’ll figure it out. And the more you do it, the more comfortable you become with this feeling.

This is a great secret to more happiness and success. 

Step 5. Focus on the Process of Learning

The process is the foundation of the growth mindset and it’s where the magic happens.

Judge your actions, not your outcomes. 

Shift your focus by asking yourself these quality questions on an everyday basis:

• What did I learn?
• What could I have done better?
• What is one thing I can do differently straight away?

It’s pretty straightforward, but difficult to do in practice. Don’t give up when it feels difficult, it’s just a phase you’ve to go through.

Poker is a great example.

Your success in poker depends on your ability to make better decisions than your opponents.

Because here’s the thing in poker; you can go all-in 100 times with a player and always have the better hand. Because poker is a game of chance, your hand rarely dominates the other person’s hand. 

Practically, a 55% chance to win is pretty good in an all-in situation. In other words, you win 55 times out of a 100. But you also lose 45 times.

This is where the growth mindset plays a role.

Because how often do we get emotionally attached to the outcome. Thus, if we lose 3 times in a row with a 55% chance to win, we lose our minds and rationality.

That’s why good poker players win money over the long run, and bad poker players lose.

It’s no longer about understanding the theory behind the different playstyles and the likes. Everyone has that information available on the internet. 

The difference lies in the orientation of the players.

Bad poker players focus on the results. If they get a couple of bad results in a row, they begin to “tilt”. This means they start to make even worse decisions.

Professionals always stay focused on the process. When they hit a bad streak, they stay patient and consistent in their game. And this is how they win over the long run.

Btw, if you’re a casual poker player, there’s nothing wrong with a result-oriented focus, as long as you’re simply doing it for the thrill of the game. 

Here’s the growth mindset summary for professional poker players, after every hand you:

• take a step back to analyze the situation;
• consider all available information;
• consider the information you might have missed;
• re-think if the other player still matches with the perception you have.

Do you see how none of the questions takes the result of the hand in consideration?

Focusing on the process is key to your success.

Step 6. Strategic Celebrations

There’s a big chance you must re-learn how to celebrate your victories as you’re adopting the growth mindset.

People often celebrate results, like getting a new job or when you double your money in poker.

Although those results are great, putting too much emphasis on this is detrimental. Because once you get into the habit of only celebrating results, you’ll start to focus more and more on results.

Change this habit and celebrate taking action instead!

How to do that? 

Well for me, I like chocolate and Netflix documentaries. So whenever I take enough action throughout the week, I celebrate this with a chocolate bar and some Netflix time.

This is the balance I need.

You’ll have to figure out exactly what’s the best reward for you. But once you figure this out, you can now successfully celebrate taking action.

Which then inspires you to take more action the following days and weeks.

And through consistency, you succeed.

Celebrate action – not results.

Step 7. Ask for Feedback

Asking for feedback is a great way to speed up your growth to get ahead in life. But as much as this is helpful, it also requires you to become vulnerable.

When you open yourself to receive feedback, you can get valuable insights that you don’t see for yourself. And these insights can explode your growth.

You should still filter the feedback you’re getting. 

This means that feedback from people who barely know you aren’t as valuable as the feedback from people who you like and trust. 

Then the only thing left is to disidentify yourself from your ego.

Detaching oneself from your ego is perhaps the biggest step one can make to achieve more happiness in life.

Growth Mindset Questions to Stay on Track

The 7 steps you’ve just gone through seem pretty straightforward and simple. But like I’ve mentioned before, it’s a process that takes time.

It’s a fun journey that destroys your insecurities.

To help you throughout the process, keep the following questions at hand.

Why?

Because you must keep reminding yourself consistently. So rather than these questions, you can also decide to journal every day. Or even better, combine the two.

This habit helps you to develop a growth mindset.

1. Why am I embracing the growth mindset today?
2. How can I seek growth today?
3. What action do I need to take to make today a success?
4. How will failure help me today?
5. What is a challenge I can face today?
6. How can I collect some feedback today?

These are some empowering questions to ask yourself at the start of your day. And reflect on the following questions at the end of your day:

1. How did I grow today?
2. What actions did I take today?
3. Did I risk failure or did I fail today?
4. What challenges did I face today?
5. What feedback did I collect today?
6. What can I do differently tomorrow?

If a total of 12 questions feels too much for you and it stops you from taking action, pick the 2 questions that seem most helpful to you (1 in the morning and 1 in the evening). 

The key here is consistency.

I fear not the man who has practiced 10,000 kicks once, but I fear the man who has practiced one kick 10,000 times.

– Bruce Lee

Watch Out for These Pitfalls

When practicing the growth mindset, there are a couple of pitfalls you should watch out for. But with this knowledge, you’ll make a smooth transition and soon achieve great results. 

Praising the Wrong Thing

This one shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. Like we’ve discussed in #6 of developing the growth mindset, you cannot give yourself too many credits for the results you get. 

Sure celebrate the result, but praise your effort.

This is a big pitfall because it’s not always easy to manage your emotions. And we become distracted by that which doesn’t help us further.

Who is your favorite athlete of all time?

Do they stop practicing and put in hard effort after they win?

Hopefully not.

Do you want to achieve success in your life? Then you must commit to the same long-term game and stay focused on the process.

Detach your emotions from the outcome.  

Feeling Superior

The only problem in the personal development space is the feeling of superiority. It’s understandable why this happens because you’re working hard to change yourself. 

But let’s not become an asshole.

Here are some reasons why you should stay humble to get the success you want:

• People present opportunities at unexpected times – if they like you. 
• You work this hard on yourself, just to throw it away so easily?
• You can learn from anyone.
• We all came from the same source.

Here’s why the realization that we all came from the same source is great: none of us is that special, yet each of us is.

No matter if you come from a rich place or the dirt, the fact that you’re reading this means that there’s a chance for you to grow and make an impact.

Recommended: Growth Mindset Book

If you liked what you’ve read about the growth mindset, I encourage you to pick up a copy of Carol Dweck’s book. Carol Dweck explains the growth mindset in great detail and dives deeper into the specific areas such as:

• Elite athletes
• Entrepreneurs and leaders
• Relationships and love
• Parenting the growth mindset to your kids

You can pick up the book here; Mindset: The New Psychology of Success.

Or read my point of view on the top 5 best growth mindset books.

You Got This!

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General FAQ

What is the growth mindset?

The growth mindset is the belief that you can learn anything, as long as you put focus and energy into it. It’s also a very powerful tool to destroy self-doubt and insecurity.

Why is the growth mindset important?

Because by focusing on the process, this mindset destroys the fear of judgment. And when you take judgment out of the equation, success is almost a guarantee.

How to have a growth mindset?

By practicing the 7 steps discussed in this article until you’ve made the shift. There’s no pill to make this happen overnight, but the journey is fun and rewarding.

What are the benefits of a growth mindset?

The great benefit is that you learn to detach yourself from outcomes. This then helps you to detach your ego from other’s judgment. And this is crucial to improve your happiness.

How to teach a growth mindset to others?

First of all, make sure to lead by being an example. Once you’ve developed more confidence others naturally become curious, which allows you to introduce this concept.

What is the difference between the growth mindset and a fixed mindset?

With a growth mindset, you focus on the process and celebrate taking action. With a fixed mindset, you focus on results and only celebrate successes.