3.1. Growth Mindset

All people are different and think in a different way. Some adhere to their well-known everyday routines and are concerned more about the looks and showing off with their new possessions, being pretty much satisfied with their lives; others invest into learning and improving, accept challenges, see obstacles as opportunities, and are certain that determination and hard work bring about great changes. On the bases of the two descriptions, it is possible to distinguish two sets of beliefs and ways of thinking: fixed mindset and growth mindset. If you want to know which of the mindsets is yours, then keep on scrolling!

Fixed Mindset vs Growth Mindset

Before speaking about the fixed or growth mindset, it is necessary to understand what a mindset in general is. Dictionaries define ‘mindset’ as a general attitude and the way people typically think about something.

Fixed mindset means that a person believes that one’s skills, talents, personality traits or the level of intelligence are presented at birth, you have what you have, and cannot change that. Such people simply carry out the everyday work in the same manner it was done by one’s parents or even grandparents. In case of a problem, people with fixed mindset tend to run from solving that problem and give up easily, because there’s no other way than to admit defeat.

Growth mindset is completely the opposite. It is an approach to life in which an individual is certain that one’s skills, talents, personality traits and the level of intelligence can be improved and/or developed further. If problems appear, people with growth mindset tend to look at them at all possible angles, bravely face them, deal with, and most importantly acquire knowledge. Problems, obstacles or even failure are perceived as opportunities to grow and become better in all ways. And in general, life and success are like riding a bicycle — you constantly need to move if you want to keep balance.

Examples of Growth Mindset

Still have questions after getting acquainted with descriptions of mindsets? Then you’ll definitely understand by way of examples. Let’s imagine that on a certain stage of your business you run out of money and need to ask investors. A traditional way of asking would be to bring them a business plan, tell more about your product or service, show an MPV or a project of something you are planning to sell, and emphasize why your product or service is necessary for the market. Elon Musk decided to do it the other way around.

Having expressed the desire to build a “Cybertruck”, Elon Musk worked intensely on the development of a prototype. After the truck was unveiled and all of its features presented to the public, the developer tweeted that there were almost 150 000 pre-orders received in the first 36 hours. After 3 days, the number of pre-orders was 250 000. With proof of the demand for the truck, Musk was able to convince the investors and receive funding. Therefore, without having a completely finished product, Elon Musk had already sold it to a quarter of a million buyers.

The next example is Dropbox. The business idea was born in a bus, when the future-developer suddenly understood that he had forgotten his USB drive with all the necessary information. Accordingly, he understood that it was a problem that many people face and came up with a solution to create a file hosting service.

After receiving initial funding and developing the product, one of the challenges was to attract as many users as possible. Taking into account the high price for marketing strategies, Dropbox decided to think of its customers as best passers of information. How did Dropbox do that? It was a referral program: when a user recommended the service to a friend and that friend turned into a client and activated one’s account, the initial person’s efforts were appreciated by providing more free disc space. Without spending additional money on marketing and by turning the existing customers into salespersons, Dropbox managed to achieve incredible results! The approach chosen is called growth mindset.

Finally, Hotmail. As it has already been mentioned previously, everything starts with a problem. The developers of Hotmail had no other possibility to exchange information apart from writing it on pieces of paper or on floppy disks. As a consequence, they created an email service via the web browser that made it all easy for them.

They thought that if that simplified their life, then it would also simplify the lives of many others. Moreover, without having much money to spend on getting people interested in their product, they came up with a simple and cheap way of advertising. Messages sent via Hotmail had a signature in each email that encouraged people to try out the product. The message was: Get your free email at Hotmail. Can you imagine? Without spending money on marketing, just a simple row at the end of the message led to thousands of sign-ups each day.

In Conclusion…

One of the main components of success is the growth mindset. Thomas A. Edison, the creator of an electric light bulb, once said: “I have not failed, I’ve just found 10 000 ways that don’t work.” Indeed, it all depends on the attitude. Some people believe that they have necessary knowledge and skills and don’t want to do anything more, don’t want to learn from their mistakes or further improve, while others continue to move mountains throughout their lives to become stronger, smarter and the best version of themselves.

If you’re reading this, then most probably you belong to the second type, thus do not stop reaching ever-higher levels of achievement and make sky your limit!