Mindset refers to set of beliefs, attitudes, values and opinions held by an individual which influences how they perceive the world around them. It also refers to an individual way of thinking and dispositions towards circumstances.
Individual mindset differs and this is determined by different factors such as environment, societal values, culture, upbringing, education etc. and this has an effect on how we interpret and respond to situations.
There are different types of mindset but only four will be discussed in this blog and they include:
- Growth Mindset
- Fixed Mindset
- Positive Mindset
- Threat/ Challenge Mindset
Growth Mindset
This type of mindset was identified by Carol Dweck (Professor of Psychology at Stanford University). Individuals with this mindset have the notion that they have the capacity to develop themselves through learning, effort and persistence. They believe that their brains and talents are just the starting point (Dweck, 2006) and with this mindset, you try harder, learn new strategies and seek out feedback when you are stuck (Dweck, 2015).
Embracing this type of mindset can help individuals to overcome challenges and achieve more success in life. Having a growth mindset has been linked to success in a variety of life domains (Yeager et al., 2019).
How to develop growth mindset
- Be open to criticisms.
- Be persistent and never be scared of failure.
- Be ready and willing to seek new challenges.
- Learn from others that surround you.
- Do not stay limited to what you know, explore and learn new activities.
Fixed Mindset
This was also identified by Carol Dweck and it is the opposite of growth mindset. A person with fixed mindset believes abilities or traits such as intelligence is already set from birth and cannot be changed. They spend less time working on their abilities and talents and usually shy away from challenges by rationalizing it with different excuses.
They are of the opinion that there is no need to work hard or try out new activities that are beyond their abilities due to fear of failure. It is their belief that effort is not required and their talent alone is enough for them attain success.
Positive Mindset
Positive thinking is also known as positive mindset. It is an optimistic state of mind. Positive thinking is an emotional and mental attitude that focuses on the good and expects results that will benefit you. It’s about anticipating happiness, health and success instead of expecting the worst.
Positive mindset is a mental and emotional attitude that focuses on optimistic and positive thoughts and expects positive results. People with this attitude are confident, and believe they can overcome any obstacle or difficulty they might face. According to Quoidback, Mikolajczak and Gross (2015), people with positive mindset may use strategies like gratitude, appraisal and savoring to identify the good things and increase their positive emotion.
Important of Positive mindset
- This kind of attitude improves your physical and mental health, emotional health, and immunity system.
- A positive mental attitude produces positive thoughts, which can affect many areas of life in a favorable way.
- You avoid negative self-talk and substitute it with positive self-talk.
- Such a state of mind makes you more optimistic, friendly and considerate, and this improves your relationships with people.
- A mental attitude that focuses on good and positive thoughts awakens positive emotions.
How to develop positive mindset
- Use positive words in your inner dialogues, and when talking with others. Use words such as “it’s possible”, “I can” and “I am able”.
- Use your imagination to visualize only favorable and beneficial situations and avoid imagining problems and failure.
- Avoid the company of people who express negative thoughts and negative feelings.
- Always find reasons to smile.
- Think positively, expect only favorable results and situations, and circumstances will change accordingly.
Challenge/Threat Mindset
These mindsets arise when faced with a competitive or stressful situation which will determines how the individual will view such situation either as a challenge or threat. A challenge Mindset allows the individual to focus on accomplishing the set goals even when they are aware of the consequences. This type of mindset is very optimistic is nature which helps in preparing the mind to face the challenges and ensure that all proactive measures that can aid in overcoming the situation are put in place.
How to develop a challenge mindset
- Always view a situation as a challenge rather than threat.
- Always see a situation as an opportunity to learn and test yourself.
- Be open to any challenges that you might encounter.
- Have the power of resilience.
- Reward yourself after completing a new challenge.
Threat mindset tends to focus more on the consequences or the failure attached to not finishing the task which triggers some emotions such as anxiety, fear or anger and all these affects the performance of the individual.
Therefore, our mindset is a very powerful tool which contributes to how individual will attain success depending on how you choose to make use of it.
References
- Dweck, C.S. (2006). Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. New York: Random House Inc.
- Dweck, C.S. (2015). Carol Dweck revisits the Growth Mindset. Education Week, 35 (5): 20-24.
- Quoidback, J., Mikolajczak, M and Gross, J.J. (2015). Positive Interventions: An emotion regulation perspective. Psychological bulletin, 141(3), 665.
- Yeager, D.S., Hanselman, P., Walton, G.M., Murray, J.S., Crosnoe, R., Muller, C. and Paunesku, D. (2019). A National Experiment reveals where a Growth Mindset Improves Achievement. Nature, 573(7774), 364-369.
