Mindset: Mythological new age philosophy or what we already know?
Mindset and performance hold strong connection.
Experts such as Carol Dweck and Angela Duckworth have spent years suggesting you can develop a Growth Mindset or a Fixed Mindset and that they can be changed.
The idea behind mindset is that the way we view ourselves and things around us such as talent , effort and failure impacts our ability to develop and perform.
Like most ideologies Mindset has a huge following of believers and as well as many detractors. Athletes such as Tom Brady and Michael Jordan have been strongly associated with Growth Mindset and the tools of Mindset such as grit, effort and failure as a learning tool
So is Mindset valuable? Does it merely exist or do we learn it? Can it be changed? Why do some people have it and some don’t?
Lots of questions I know but my response would simply be YOU already believe in Mindset you just don’t know it and you have seen it at work but just not recognised it.
Without diving into the theory of Mindset and the elements that make it up from a clinical point of view we are going to discuss a few old fashioned philosophies that are Mindset based to show you that it has been around and that you have had exposure to it.
If you fall off a bike, dust yourself off and try againSound familiar?It’s not whether you win or lose its how you play the gameHeard that?You never know if you don’t tryRing any bells?Be proud of your efforts
All you can do is try your hardest
If you give it all you got then that’s a win
When you get knocked down get back up
There is no shame in losing if you tried your hardest
Winners are not afraid of losing Etc, etc, etc, etc…….
Depending on how much you absorb or how the message is delivered we all understand what the above expressions are trying to tell us we just didn’t know it was called Growth Mindset.
Mindset is learned thru experiences, stimuli of those around you and the personality traits you develop. Some people have never discussed mindset, never studied it or tried to train in but just appear to have it.
This doesn’t make it a myth or something that’s God given.
More simply put its just how you got to where you are has influenced you understanding and this shows it can be developed, changed or built
For the athlete that lacks a growth mindset or maybe struggles with it in certain applications the relationship between effort and process combined with understanding yourself and your goals can develop a stronger mindset.
Shifting focus from results and fear of failure to a passion for challenge and the ability to identify lessons in loss an athlete can ease personal pressures and take more control over their own destiny with less intervention from outside noise.
In a nutshell define where and who you currently are, what your goals are and why you value them then design a process that channels all your effort for maximum return and lean into that effort being your passion, fuel and measuring stick
When your focus becomes the Effort you put in and the ability to take positives from any results and keeps at your process, you have a Growth Mindset