How to Find Your False Growth Mindsets and Un-Fix Them

Do you have a growth mindset yet?

What’re waiting for? You’re missing out. Everyone’s getting one.

And rightfully so!

A growth mindset helps you:

• Learn faster.
• Feel better about yourself.
• Get along better with others.
• Make the most of your potential.

So you probably want one if you want to become a winner at life.

But there’s a catch…

You can’t have a growth mindset.

Nobody can.

Carol Dweck says so. And since she’s the psychologist who introduced the concept to the world in her sledgehammer of a book, Mindset, it’s fair to say she makes the rules.

So don’t believe anyone who prances around pretending they have a growth mindset. All you and I can do—should do—is work toward this mythical mindset and away from its opposite: a fixed mindset.

To avoid deluding ourselves with false growth mindsets, find fixed mindsets to release, and take steps to be more growth minded, let’s look at:

1. A quick quiz to test your knowledge of fixed versus growth mindsets
2. Official definitions of mindset, growth mindset, and fixed mindset.
3. How to self-diagnose a fixed or false growth mindset.
4. 5 misperceptions about growth mindsets to watch out for.

Quiz

Test your grasp of what it means to have a growth mindset with a quick quiz:

The correct answer is the eighth letter in the word abracadabra.

Got it right?

If so, don’t let it go to your head. That’s a fixed-minded reaction. You probably just got lucky.

Got it wrong?

You’ll understand why by the end of this post.

Definitions

Mindset is simply how you perceive your abilities.

With a growth mindset you believe your abilities can be developed through all three of 1) hard work, 2) good strategies, and 3) input from others.

A fixed mindset is on the opposite end of the spectrum from a growth mindset. With a fixed mindset, you believe your abilities cannot change.

Cheat Sheet

How to Self-Diagnose a False Growth or Fixed Mindset

Paradoxically, the surest sign of having a fixed mindset is believing you have a growth mindset.

On the other hand, the more concerned you are about having a fixed mindset, the more that means you’re on the right track to being more growth-minded.

If that doesn’t make sense, don’t worry. Here are some less-paradoxical ways, which Dweck calls “fixed mindset triggers,” to catch yourself suffering bouts of fixed-or false growth-mindedness.

Fixed Mindset Triggers

• When do you feel overly anxious, incompetent, or defeated?
• When do you react defensively to criticism or feel angry or crushed from feedback?
• When do you make excuses?
• When do you feel envious or threatened by someone, rather than motivated by their success?
• When have you said, “I’m not very good at ______” or “I’m really good at ______”?

If you can’t think of answers, you’re either delusional or have a horrible memory. Ask your spouse or colleague and they’ll surely be able to help.

Don’t let it get to you. Everyone has a fixed mindset on occasion and in certain areas of life. The first step to having a more growth mindset is accepting that.

Growth Mindset Misperceptions

A “growth mindset” is like designer sunglasses:

It’s attractive, valuable, and looks great on anyone. And it seems simple to wrap your head around (or vice versa).

Because of this, counterfeits abound. You can find teachers, psychologists, and self-helpers flaunting knock-off versions everywhere. This proliferation of what Dweck calls “false growth mindsets” got so bad that she had to update her book with a chapter about it and go on a media tour to clarify her concepts.

To avoid falling for fakes, here are five common growth-mindset misperceptions to watch out for.

1. Nobody’s entirely fixed- or growth-minded.

“…nobody has a growth mindset in everything all the time. Everyone is a mixture of fixed and growth mindsets.”

Carol Dweck interview on The Atlantic

As Ameet Ranadive put it, mindset is a spectrum rather than a binary trait. So just like any belief, we’re best off putting our growth mindedness on a scale of one to one-hundred and working ramp it up little-by-little.

Keep in mind:

Your mindset differs by domain.

For example, I think to think I’m reasonably growth-minded when it comes to my (in-)ability to make YouTube videos or play beach volleyball, but I can’t deny that my fixed-mindedness flares up more than it should when arguing with Kim.

2. A growth mindset isn’t about trying harder.

Recall the definition:

A growth mindset is the belief that your abilities can be developed through 1) hard work, 2) good strategies, and 3) input from others.

You can’t pick and choose any of the three. You need them all.

Take me and this blog, for example:

If I want to get better at blogging, I can’t just blog more. Hard work isn’t enough. Just look at the millions of blogs with fewer readers than posts for proof.

To keep progressing toward my mission of dragging as many people out of the status quo as possible, I have to work hard and study and tinker with my strategies and seek and respond to feedback, especially from demotivational speakers.

And if my efforts don’t lead to progress, that’s a sure sign of false growth mindset. I have find out where a fixed mindset is concealing the truth about what’s holding me back.

The same goes for you and anything you’re working hard on without much progress.

3. A growth mindset has nothing to do with positive self-talk and praise.

Saying “Everyone is smart!” and handing out participation ribbons for passing nothing more than gas is more mindset-fixing than mindset-growing.

That’s why the correct answer to the quick quiz above is, “You didn’t deserve the job.” If you deserved it, you would have gotten it.

Instead of positive self-talk and praise take a swing at the tips from The Inner Game of Tennis:

1. Observe results without judgement.
2. Acknowledge the reality.
3. Incorporate that feedback to keep improving.

This learning strategy may sound robotic, but it’s not.

It’s childish.

Both Mindset and The Inner Game of Tennis explain that this approach is how the fastest learners on the planet, babies, learn to walk and talk.

4. You can’t do anything you put your mind to.

Your talents can be developed, but they aren’t limitless.

That’s why even though I’m taller than average, about 6’3”, no amount of growth mindedness could have enabled me to reach my teenage dreams of making the NBA.

As per the diagrams from my post on how to properly expand your comfort zone, a growth mindset is about knowing that your potential is bigger than your current comfort zone but not confusing it with your bubble of delusion.

5. Having a fixed mindset doesn’t mean you won’t succeed.

People with enough talent and/or good fortune can make it to the top despite having mostly fixed mindsets. A quick look at the news offers ample examples—cutthroat businessmen, egotistical politicians, and attention-hogging stars.

But being on top isn’t much relief for those fix-minded folk. They live in perpetual fear of losing their spot.

And it’ll happen eventually. As legendary basketball coach and mindset maestro John Wooden said, “I believe ability can get you to the top, but it takes character to keep you there.”

For a fail-proof life, we ought to:

• Stop competing with others.
• Focus on outperforming our past selves.
• Strive toward our own definitions of winning at life.

These corny growth mindset strategies don’t guarantee success just as fixed mindsets don’t guarantee failure. But they’re the best we can do.

Don’t lose your mind(-set).

“The view you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way you lead your life.”

Carol Dweck, Mindset

When I first read Mindset and learned about the concepts of growth and fixed mindsets, a flip switched in my brain about my abilities and how to develop them.

But my mindset didn’t immediately flip with it. It doesn’t happen that way.

So maybe a better analogy than a light switch is a garden. The book planted its seeds in my mind and showed me what’s possible. Now it’s up to me to tend to my plot, routinely deal with the weeds, and keep growing.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck