Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset

There has been some growing research and understanding of ways to help reduce stress and improving our health can be associated with the mindset we take with a negative situation. People typically will see a problem with either a “fixed mindset” or a “growth mindset”.

Those with a fixed mindset will avoid challenges due to the failure risk associated with the situation. They are threatened by negative feedback. Someone with a fixed mindset often times has developed learned helplessness; they see problems as outside their control and that a negative experience will just lead to more negative experiences no matter what they do. They see these negative events as permanent ("it will never change"), personal ("it's my fault"), and pervasive ("I can't do anything correctly").

Those that take on a situation with a growth mindset will accept the challenge in spite of the failure that might follow. They understand that failure is a necessary part of change and that while there may be temporary set-backs; these will lead to success later. The growth mindset individual learns to appreciate criticism because it will make them better in the long term. Growth mindset is associated with a more optimistic explanatory model for negative events. They believe bad events are temporary and not permanent (“this is a temporary set-back”), these events are not because of a personal fault but rather an outside cause (“unfortunate bad luck caused this”), and the event also can be compartmentalized and not generalized (“I might struggle in this area, but that is because I’m more gifted in all these other things”).

Those of us with a more fixed mindset to problems and have a pessimistic view of them will have increased stress in our lives, which can lead to significant health problems. The good news is our mindsets can be changed and transformed just like our bodies can with exercise. We can recognize signs of learned helplessness (permanent, personal, and pervasive) and change our thoughts to be more optimistic. With practice this will become a more natural way of coping with negative experiences and stress levels will be reduced and our overall health will drastically improve. Take steps to “exercise” on having a more growth mindset.