Growth Mindset in basic terms is the mindset or the perspective needed to grow any business or start-up. For any business to thrive or progress, new and novel ideas should be thought of and implemented as well. An entrepreneur has to weigh all the profits or losses they might incur after the idea is executed. This article gives young and potential entrepreneurs an insight into the Growth Mindset and helps them develop themselves with a Growth Mindset it to develop their venture by implementing new ideas.

According to a book written by Carol Dwek- “Mindset- The New Psychology of Success”, there are two types of mindsets usually seen in individuals. First is the Fixed Mindset, and other is the Growth Mindset. These two mindsets respond to the way individual’s think. Becoming a best-seller during the Covid-19 pandemic this book has some great insights which can be found below.

What is a Fixed Mindset?

A fixed mindset is a mindset wherein an individual’s capacities, capabilities, abilities, talents and potentialities are pre-established in such a manner that the individual believes there is no scope to develop or enhance them any further. They create a barrier and blame their stagnant growth on parents, genetics, family, external factors, and many other reasons which they believe are true. Each reason, therefore, limits the growth of their mind and gives importance to being fixed.

What is Growth Mindset?

A growth mindset is the complete opposite of a Fixed Mindset. If a person develops a growth mindset, they believe in their abilities and perform better by procuring a positive attitude. A positive attitude is important in developing a growth mindset in any individual. If the person garners a positive attitude, then it makes any learning process easy and also successfully help in the overall growth of the individual.

However, the person should not ignore the red flags of a growth mindset, like overworking, being over-critical, and denying the negative or positive possibilities of a given situation. By having a growth mindset, the individual is convinced that he/she can perform better every day and have a fulfilled and satisfying career.

Problem-Solving in Fixed and Growth Mindset:

Problem-solving methods for both Fixed and Growth Mindset are different. The on-going situation of the global pandemic cannot be ignored, in case of both situations. There are those people who consider the pandemic as a global complication which makes life difficult while on the other hand there are people who consider it as an opportunity to achieve higher prospects and achieve unfulfilled targets with the help of substantial learning and growth.

Let us consider the example of learning during the Covid-19 pandemic. People with a positive attitude and growth mindset will be exposed to various learning opportunities online or even through books and will embrace them with an open mind which will make them ready for new challenges by attaining knowledge which they did not know before now.

On the other hand, people with a fixed mindset will not acquire new knowledge and would be sceptical as well as opinionated about the worth, and quality of the training received. People who are narrow-minded and have pre-established thoughts would term the training program as unsatisfactory and substandard.

Relationship Between an Individual’s Achievement and Perceived Abilities:

People with a growth mindset would readily believe in achieving new targets while those with

A fixed mindset will not take efforts to improve their learning abilities. In the book, “Mindset- The New Psychology of Success” written by Carol Dwek, she encourages the readers to undertake a questionnaire which will allow them to self-analyse which side the individual fall on. If the individual has a fixed mentality, there are different ways in which they can modify it and develop it in a growth mindset.

The individuals can refer to the following ideas, to develop a growth mindset:

• Surrounding yourself with positive people:

Due to our brain’s natural trait of being self-affirmation in most cases, it only considers information that it already believes in to be genuine and discards beliefs and conceptions that the mind contradicts. Ultimately, if two people with a fixed mindset interact, then the resulting outcome of this meeting will be negative, and nothing would be achieved out of it.

Carol Dwek does not encourage her readers to avoid people with fixed mindsets totally, as they as well may include our family members and our loved ones. Dwek urges her audience to meet-up with people with a growth mindset as it positively affects the individual with a fixed mindset and allows them to be broad-minded about the different opportunities that they may undertake and be an optimistic personality overall.

• Undertake only those Courses which you are interested in:

Individuals should follow their passion and undertake only those courses or learning processes which they desire. For example, if you are interested in cooking, then take up culinary courses and focus on them to make them exactly as intended and then change it up and develop your cooking signature, see what the different developments in the market regarding cooking and study them are. If you take courses that do not grasp your attention, you would not give your 100% to it and thus not reach your full potential.

• Invest in New Manoeuvres and Try new things:

There are vague interpretations about Dwek trying to draw a connection between repressive mechanisms and people with a low tolerance level or frustration level. People who fear failure, naturally are underconfident and could not garner a positive attitude. People should invest their time in new manoeuvres and tactics and work towards their achievement. Even if these strategies do not produce a positive result, the person should be satisfied with the learning process and should not be disappointed with the final results. Undertaking new hobbies, making new connections, investing in new activities, and following new routines can all help in developing a growth mindset.

• Self-analyse:

It is important to determine what things are going wrong in your life rather than pointing fingers at the mistakes others commit. Self-analysis helps the individual have a broadened perspective about themselves, which will help them establish a growth mindset. Judging others or forming an opinion about others is a complete waste of time and individuals with a fixed mindset often tend to do so.

• Implement New Ideas and Build your Career:

It is always recommended to implement new ideas and fail rather than to be stagnant with the achieved growth. You should always come up with new and potential ideas to progress and build a sustainable career. Dwek says that an individual only keeps learning out the many failures that they experience. These failures are stepping stones for a successful career and a progressive career path.