How to build a growth mindset

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Your mindset determines how you respond to setbacks and failures. 

It’s the difference between this:

And this:

One of these guys is ready to go again right away. The other is hurting their team, albeit unintentionally. They’re disengaged and until they reset and refocus, the team is playing a person down.

Developing a mindset that allows you to rebound quickly and stay focused is a competitive advantage. 

What is a mindset?

A mindset is a set of beliefs that guide our perceptions, and subsequently, our actions. 

These beliefs are internalized from several sources, like: 

• Peers

• Media

• Parents

• Coaches 

• Teammates

And these internalized beliefs have a huge impact on our behavior, even down to the level of our digestion.

In one famous study, for example, researchers told participants that they were eating a healthy shake or a dessert shake. In reality, the shakes were identical. In digestion, they were anything but. 

People who were told that the shakes were dessert metabolized significantly fewer calories than those who were told it was healthy. 

Same ingredients, different outcomes, because of different beliefs. 

You can learn more about the science of mindset here.

Mindsets are built through feedback and language. It’s about what’s communicated by parents, coaches, and peers. 

How to build a growth mindset

When I played soccer growing up (pretty competitively), my dad used to offer me money if I scored a goal. 

At the time, it was awesome - my friends would rally around me and set me up to score, and we’d split the winnings (sorry you’re just learning this now, Dad). 

The problem was it incentivized the outcome. 

I didn’t learn anything about how to score, just that scoring was the most important thing. And if I didn’t score, I’d be bummed that I didn’t contribute in a way my dad thought worthy of reward. 

I know he meant well - but he, unintentionally, steered me toward a mindset of outcome over process, fixed mindset over growth mindset. 

Instead, it would’ve been ideal for him to reward me for my hard work, the decisions I made in-game, and how I treated my teammates. 

That would have led to a more consistent valuing of hard work and good decisions, rather than just scoring goals. (What he did get right, however, was helping build my confidence that I could score.)

A growth mindset is the belief that outcomes are determined by hard work, effort, and persistence. 

We want these sources of influence to be talking about each of the following drivers of performance, often.

The basics of building a growth mindset involve focusing feedback on:

• Hard work

• Effort

• Persistence 

• Learning opportunities

Any messages about the value of these 4 components will promote a growth mindset. 

For example, you can congratulate someone after a successful performance by saying, “You worked hard to reach your goal.” Or you can foster learning after failure by asking, “What could you learn from this and do differently next time?” before helping them move on.

Importantly, this doesn’t mean you can’t also talk to your performer about their natural talents. 

That’s what we’ve gotten wrong about growth mindset in the past - that it’s an either/or with a fixed mindset, and that growth is good and fixed is bad. To the contrary, science suggests we want both/and: a growth mindset (the belief that effort matters for outcomes) and a fixed mindset (the belief that talent matters too).

Combining these two mindsets can help your responses look like [Athlete B] rather than [Athlete A]. You need to understand and believe in the value of hard work - and you need to appreciate how your talents can help you bounce back.

When you’re ready, there are a couple of ways I can help you:

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If you’re looking for 1:1 coaching, you can work with a mindset coach in my practice. Book a time here.

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