A Growth Mindset is one of the most common attributes of successful people. That’s why we’ve made a new ‘How To’ video for you.
A Growth Mindset is a belief that your talent is not fixed. Your talent is dynamic and exponential. People who practice a Growth Mindset often say, ‘Hard work beats talent’.
There are four books that we recommend reading to go deep into the habits of a Growth Mindset.
Can't Hurt Me by David Goggins
Hit Refresh by Satya Nadella
Option B by Sandberg and Grant
Mindset by Carol Dweck
We have done podcasts on each of the books too:
Here’s a transcript of the Growth Mindset Video:
[00:00:00] Mike Parsons: So the growth mindset, playbook, is all about how you can realize your dreams. And if you're going to chase your dreams, you're sure. You are going to get some bumps along the way. So let's work out how we can adopt a growth mindset and be the best version of ourselves. So I wanted to start this story with six people, six groups of people you're most definitely going to know.
[00:00:26] And there's a common trait that happened for many of these people in the early part of their careers. We've got Steve Jobs, Walt Disney, Einstein, Oprah Jordan, and the Beatles. Now, what's interesting if you study their early careers. They all had, despite being in wildly different areas.
[00:00:46] Of practice. Very different types of careers. I had one powerful commonality: they all experienced failure, and some of them were pretty big failures.
So [00:01:00] check this out. Steve Jobs. He was just 30 years of age. And he was fired from his own company. Disney was also fired, for having white for this, lack of imagination.
[00:01:10] Einstein didn't speak so much as a young child. And they said, Never. Amount too much was how they described Einstein. He's an early teacher; crazy to think what he went on to do. Oprah. The queen of television, she was fired from her anchor TV spot. Jordan didn't even make the high school basketball team.
[00:01:30] And the Beatles, check this out when they went to Decca recordings. This is what the recording studios told them. We don't like their sound. They have no future in show business, the greatest band of all time. We're told that. So isn't it interesting that every one of these people?
[00:01:49] Are these groups of people. They faced significant failures in the early part of their career. But what we all know is that they went [00:02:00] on to do amazing things. What we know is that—all the of these people on your screen—ah, Considered to be, the best in their respective practice.
[00:02:14] Yeah, they all faced failure. And I think the critical thing about this. Is, they did not stop. They didn't pause. They didn't. Give up. They kept going. And what I found from doing the moonshots podcast, studying hundreds and hundreds of superstars. That this ability to keep going. When things get tough.
[00:02:37] It's an enormously powerful characteristic, and it's built from this idea of a growth mindset. And so, I want to be able to share with you everything that I've studied, everything that I've learned about the growth mindset. I want to package it all up for you, give you some context, some great self-evaluation questions, and some straightforward practices that you can adopt.
[00:03:00]
[00:03:00] I want to do all of this in less than 20 minutes. So you can be on your way to being the best version of yourself.
[00:03:07] this growth mindset is one of about 70 characteristics, practices, and frameworks. That I've discovered successful people use. It's one of the critical parts of the moonshots model. And in studying all of these fantastic people. We've found that a growth mindset is not like just scraping into the top 70.
[00:03:32] I would say this is easy, top 10. We talked about just six different groups of people who have used the growth mindset, but there are plenty more, so if you want to find out about the growth mindset and everything that makes up the moonshots model, head over to moonshots dot.
[00:03:48] IO.
[00:03:50] Okay. So let's get some definitions out of the way, and let's start with what a growth mindset is. Not. It is not a fixed mindset. And, The fixed [00:04:00] mindset is just a way of saying someone who sees many limits in themselves. Some of the beliefs you might hear them say are that if people have a limiting fixed mindset, aredo they avoid challenges?
[00:04:13] They give up easily. Now here's the exciting thing: all of us can be tempted even if we have a growth mindset. To be threatened by the success of others. They just want to look smart rather than be smart. They might look at putting much effort into something as being fruitless. They may even ignore feedback that they get along the way.
[00:04:36] But if someone is really in a fixed mindset, you got to help them out. But also, you're going to hear them say, listen, it just is what it is. This is how I am. I can't change it. That's what we call a fixed mindset. It's seeing the limits of oneself. Now let's look at what's on the other side of this; I hope it's a bit more cheerful than a fixed mindset.
[00:04:59] [00:05:00] And, of course, it's all about freedom. So growth mindset is about the exponential nature of yourself. If you are practising a growth mindset, you're going to persevere in the face of failure. You're going to put in the time and the effort, and it could be much time to build new skills. You might say things like I find inspiration in other success. I embrace challenges. I accept criticism. I desire to learn.
[00:05:27] I build my abilities. This is the big one. These are not fixed. These are dynamic. These are things I can work on. And if you can embody this growth mindset, I've discovered that many superstars, many successful people have a growth mindset. So, in short. The fundamental idea. I want to invite you.
[00:05:52] To just entertain right now is that your talents are not fixed. Your [00:06:00] talent is dynamic. It's exponential. You can put in the work. And become whatever you want. So like a mantra of someone who lives by a growth mindset. They believe that hard work beats talent every single time.
[00:06:18] I've got much evidence to show you. And much different data points to share with you. And I encourage you, if you're not sure. Just give it a chance to entertain the idea that your talent is exponential. It's dynamic. It is certainly not fixed. Okay. So I want to return to some inspirational people around a growth mindset.
[00:06:40] we knew from the earlier slide about some of the challenges that Steve jobs faced. Remember that he was kicked out of his own company and fired his CEO when he was 30. But came back and did an even better job. Some might say one of the greatest [00:07:00] CEO leadership stints ever.
[00:07:02] you might argue that all the success apple enjoys today is still primarily a result of his work. And here's what he has to say, which is rooted in the growth mindset. He talks about learning continually. There's always one more thing to understand. Let's look at Oprah. The queen of television says think like a queen.
[00:07:23] Acquaint is not afraid to fail. Failure is another stepping stone to greatness. And this is something I've discovered so many times. When you study the work and the effort of successful people, that failure is far from being something they are embarrassed about. Failure is something they almost thrive on.
[00:07:45] It makes them stronger. Worst case scenario, they're saying, at least I know what not to do next time. So this idea that you're just getting closer. Every time you fail, you are just getting closer to success. Now David Goggins, an [00:08:00] fantastic human being, is the only human being on the planet in history.
[00:08:05] To qualify for all three special forces in us army Navy. And air force. He did all three. And he talks about comfort zones, and here we're going to get into the highest level of growth, the growth mindset. Thinking. And this is what he says. Suppose you live in one comfort zone too long. That Kindkind of becomes the norm.
[00:08:28] We get a little comfy. And he talks about getting comfortable, being uncomfortable. This is huge because you can never settle for the status quo. If you can, always push. It's a little bit further, and it doesn't have to be a lot, 1% better every day. So that's something we learned from James Clear, author of Atomic Habits.
[00:08:50] This can unlock so much inside of you. I think it's essential. These are the manifestations, the ideas of people who have done growth mindset, [00:09:00] who have succeeded with a growth mindset, and living proof that it's worth considering. Okay. So now we've looked at some high and mighty and how they do it.
[00:09:11] Let's now turn the attention to ourselves. First, let's see where we are. And after we do this together, I'll give you some simple practices. First, that you can do for a growth mindset, but I want you to reflect on these questions and see if you can use them to unlock new opportunities for yourself. All right. Question number one.
[00:09:32] When working on something that matters. Can you keep going when it hurts? Even despite thinking about quitting. Whoa. There's so much in this one. Look, if you're doing something that matters, you're going to have bumps along the way. You're going to have obstacles. Challenges may be massive blockers.
[00:09:51] You might need to work on something for days, weeks, months, years; James Dyson is a fantastic inventor. He worked for years in [00:10:00] his back shed, building prototypes over 5,000 prototypes to get the right vacuum cleaner. Are you willing to keep going? This is a massive characteristic of a growth mindset. And here's the little nuance: even the most extraordinary people, even people like David Goggins, who on screen.
[00:10:19] Does have the thought, oh, Why am I running this long-distance? Why am I doing this? Oh, it's hurting. I want to stop. They have the thought. But they rejected. They do not accept it. They do not entertain it. That's a growth mindset. So ask yourself when you're working on something. Can you keep going?
[00:10:40] Even if you're thinking about it, this is important now. Suppose you are interested in this Kindkind of resilience. You've got to read. You can't hurt me by Dave Goggins. It is such a fantastic practicable but super inspiring at the same time. It will give you lots of insights into setting goals and how to [00:11:00] motivate yourself.
[00:11:01] And how to prepare yourself for hardship and get through the other side. Okay. That's question number one. So write down your answers. Okay. Question number two. What recent new skill have you mastered so well that you could teach it to your colleagues. There's a lot inside of this, and teaching and learning are much more closely related than you might think. There is a great saying that if you want to learn something, you should teach it.
[00:11:28] If we want to create change in our organizations, we want to develop a culture of collaboration. This mindset of learning, sharing, and teaching is a big part of making that happen. So this is an excellent book by such an Adela called hit refresh on how he brought this idea of learning and a growth mindset to Microsoft.
[00:11:49] The transformation that he has made of that organization is phenomenal. And at a massive scale, he's not just running one race. He is getting thousands of people to run the race with him. So I [00:12:00] encourage you to think about what you've been learning. What new skills have you been adopting, and have you mastered them sufficiently that you could teach them to your colleagues?
[00:12:08] And I want you to think about that because that's an opportunity to grow. To build from an expert to mastery. We'll come back to that later. Okay. So we're two questions we're trying to work out. Where are we really on the growth mindset? How much have we embodied it? Maybe get some thought-provoking questions to spur us into action.
[00:12:28] Third one. This is the last question. When did you last receive it? Digest and accept critical feedback. And then here's the crucial bit. Change your behaviour as a result—many of us. Get very concerned. When we hear feedback, we perceive it as being very judgmental. But what you can do is use any sort of feedback, whether it's ill-meaning or good, meaning doesn't matter.
[00:12:51] You can receive it, process it, and accept it. But you can use it to improve your behaviour, get a [00:13:00] better result, and be better. Partner a better friend, a better colleague. And if you can just open yourself to accepting it and then using it. For your growth. It's compelling.
[00:13:11] Now, a great book that touches upon this is option B by Sheryl Sandberg and Adam Grant. This book gets into facing adversity, becoming resilient, accepting feedback, and maybe accepting even bad news. Shall we say? Just welcome it in and let it be a tool of your own. Self-improvement.
[00:13:31] What have we done? We've looked at resilience. We've looked at learning, and we've looked at feedback, three giant pillars of a growth mindset. So I hope you're getting provoked by this. And if you want, you can write down your responses to this and any inspiration that comes to you because.
[00:13:49] What I'm about to do now is share with you the rituals and habits you can adopt. So you can start exploring a growth mindset.
[00:13:59] [00:14:00] Okay. Habits for you.
[00:14:02] Three big ones here. I love all of these. And, we've done many studies. On superstars, and I got to say, many of them are. I am practising these three. Let's jump into mantras. Now I don't want to be too wishy-washy here. But let me tell you, you need to have a real focus every morning.
[00:14:26] On your mantra. Your positive affirmation, your commitment to whom you want to be. And you can do that with a simple mantra. It's something. Maybe you want to draft and write it up about your intentions for whom you want to be and how you want to operate. What's your plan. You want to like Kindle that burning desire.
[00:14:46] Napoleon hill talks about in think and growing rich. Do you want to unlock the correct internal clock? That Stephen Covey talks about the seven habits of highly effective people build your mantra. [00:15:00] And like magic can be something like a statement. I will grow my business X per cent. That can be a perfect mantra.
[00:15:09] You could say, Hey, you want to work on receiving feedback. I am open to input from others. That could be a mantra as well. Now here's the thing if you practice this every single day. If you practice your mantras, you will prime your subconscious. You will build. This.
[00:15:32] Kindkind of muscle memory in yourself. Where you will start priming yourself to think this way. And that it will become not just a natural response, but it will become a subconscious response. You don't have to think, oh, I'm getting feedback. How do I want to process it? No. Okay. I'm open. Please tell me I'd love to grow. I'd love to be better.
[00:15:54] That can be a way to use your mantras to change your behaviour. So mantras [00:16:00] every day, write them out first, say them out loud, talk out loud, and manifest them. I know that some earnest practitioners of this. We'll speak these into our mirror. All right. That's the high-level growth mindset.
[00:16:15] Okay. The next one is around learning and teaching. And, My best suggestion here, as a habit, is to start writing in public start small. It doesn't have to be big. It can be two, 300 words. Maybe you need to start with a tweet. Whatever it takes, start writing in the key here is in public.
[00:16:34] Because you make the stakes far higher if you write in public, you make the stakes real, and you need to commit to it and be regular. And this is the crucial thing that when you are sharing your knowledge, your teaching. And to write a great blog post, to write a great tweet, you got to know what you're talking about.
[00:16:54] And this is almost creating this. This mastery practice forces you [00:17:00] into sharing what you know, and what you will invariably find is that it makes you study a little harder, maybe feeling some of the gaps you have on this particular idea. And you'll find it super rewarding because this art of publishing your thinking and writing is a great way to build your knowledge.
[00:17:18] Your curiosity. Okay. Third step. Ask somebody for feedback hate now. Frankly, how regularly do you do this? What you'll probably find is that the answer is not very much. So let's change that. Let's ask for feedback.
[00:17:33] Because most people are a bit reluctant to get feedback, there are a couple of tips here. The first thing is that I would always pick someone that I trust. And tell them that you trust them, that you respect their opinion. And the next thing is when, before you even ask the question about what you specifically would like the feedback on.
[00:17:53] I think you should tell them I want to use this feedback to improve me. And I think this is a [00:18:00] bit cheeky, but what you're doing is priming them. Objective but constructive. This helps them not be maybe nasty. This helps them avoid being a little judgmental and give you feedback that can help you grow.
[00:18:17] And, You can ask them a question. How could I improve my thinking? My leadership or business skills, or you might go after something particular that's on your mind. Do this, ask somebody for feedback, and do it regularly. And before it, you'll become comfortable. I would say you will search out feedback.
[00:18:37] And this will be so good. This is like a shortcut, really for self-improvement. Because people will know that you're genuinely going to use it, so they'll give you genuine feedback.
[00:18:49] Okay. Here we are. We're almost at the end. And I think that what I want to do now is if you've. Suppose you've watched this far into the [00:19:00] video. You deserve to know about this book. It's called Mindset by Carol Dweck. She is the godmother of the idea of a growth mindset. Nobody is more responsible for this concept, for the study of it, for the articulation of it than Carol. She has a great book called mindset. I highly recommend it.
[00:19:18] It is something that will change your life. All right. If you've enjoyed this, hit the subscribe button, give us a but also head over to dementia study, where we study hundreds of these superstars, these mental models, what we call the moonshots models. All right. That's all right.
