Growth Mindset Part 2: Benefits of a Growth Mindset
This is the second part of my four-part series on growth mindsets. To read part one, click here.
This part deals with all of the benefits of a growth mindset.
Better Performance in Academics and in All Areas of Life
Growth mindset focus on learning, not results. If students focus on improving and learning, their grades will go up. The focus is on learning the information, not simply doing well enough to get the grade that will make their teachers and parents happy. The improvement in academic performance is especially useful in subjects, like math, that build on previous material. Instead of struggling as more and more as topics build on previous topics and having to go back and relearn some material, the student will be ready for the next subject, having already mastered the previous topics.
This same reasoning applies in the workplace and all other areas of life. When you seek to improve, grow, and learn, you will get better at those things that are most important to you.
Resilience
With a growth mindset, setbacks and mistakes are viewed as learning opportunities, not failures. This attitude allows for a healthy way of viewing life. Instead of being bogged down by things that did not go as planned or hoped for, an optimistic outlook is fostered, allowing for greater resiliency in adversity.
Better Relationships
When you have a growth mindset, you can extend your belief that qualities and abilities are malleable to others. You view their shortcomings as growth opportunities as well, and if you act prudently, you can help others grow and learn. This understanding and hopefully helpful attitude creates better relationships. Imagine if everyone had this mindset.
Faster Improvement
When you are constantly seeking areas in which to improve and places where you can improve, you improve faster. Being on the look out for places to improve helps you find more areas in which to improve. The more you look, the more you will find. Finding more places to improve helps you find more ways to improve. All of this adds up to more and faster improvement.
Greater Creativity and Innovation
When you are looking for ways to improve, you become more creative. You explore many ways to improve both yourself and other areas in life. This invites in fresh ideas. Those fresh ideas will spark creativity and innovation.
Ethical Behavior
When you are open to growth and improvement, you are more open to doing things in the best way possible. You are not likely to cut corners and just get what you want as easily as possible. There is a desire to get what you want while staying within the bounds of morality. Immoral behavior becomes something unacceptable. You know how to get your desired results without betraying your values.
Confidence
When you have a growth mindset, you are not afraid of failure. You know you are growing and that, if you fail, it is not the end of the world. This allows you to enter a situation with the confidence that your abilities in a certain area are improving and perhaps ready to take on the task at hand. At the very least, you will enter such situations well aware that failure could mean a new opportunity for growth, something that you welcome.
Lower Anxiety
On a similar note, the growth mindset and the boost of confidence it gives you helps you reduce unwanted anxiety. The growth and confidence you have achieved reduce the fear of failure, and you will worry less when encountering difficult tasks.