What is a Growth Mindset?
think.feel.choose.
A mindset is the way in which you think, feel and choose. It’s what makes each one of us unique. Did you know our mind can’t go 3 seconds without making a decision? We might as well make sure we think, feel and choose in a way that helps us to grow! Am I right?
A Growth Mindset is a way to think, feel and choose that helps you grow, multiply your reach, make an impact and dominate in that area.
Growth is success.
It’s how we were engineered to think. If we go back to the beginning of Creation in Genesis 1:28, Our Creator blessed the first man and woman and then charged them to be fruitful, multiply, replenish the earth, subdue and have dominion over the earth. From the inception of time, growth was the standard and that hasn’t changed at all.
Imagine being able to implement a systematic way of thinking that helps you accomplish everything you were meant to achieve in your lifetime? I’m all in!
Potential to grow
As an engineer I always go back to how something was designed when I troubleshoot it. This couldn’t be more true for how our minds work. In order to be aligned with our primary divine purpose and fulfill our destiny, we must G-R-O-W. Growth was supposed to be as natural for man as it is for a fish to swim in water.
The coolest thing is everyone has the potential to change and grow into the person they were created to be. Let me say that again: A Growth Mindset is attainable by anyone. Scientific research shows we can change the way our brains work by doing the work. We can actually rewire our brain!
Hey friend! I believe you have the potential to grow just like I believe in my own potential. It’s an equal playing field. The difference is in how you perceive this potential to grow. After the fall of Adam, mankind lost its identity when it was disconnected from the source of growth- God. The scarcity or slave mindset became the status quo and struggle became the norm.
If you take note to what’s going on in this world, there’s a perceived sense of hopelessness and desperation that has become the baseline for many people. But there is hope. We don’t have to settle for what life has given us. We can get unstuck and change the way we think.
The Good News is you can develop a Growth Mindset!
How to Develop a Growth Mindset
tHE bRIDGE
In order to develop a Growth Mindset, a basic understanding of how the mind works is very helpful. Essentially, our experiences shape our perspective of life or how we see it. Our perspective influences our thoughts and emotions. Those thoughts and emotions dictate how we behave and those actions become our lives. We create our lives one thought and emotion at a time. If we allowed toxic thoughts and emotions emotions to create behaviors that don’t enable our growth then we have the ability to change them and facilitate our growth.
I like to compare the Growth Mindset to a bridge:
- A bridge was primarily created to eliminate the gap between two different locations.
- A bridge enables transportation from where you currently are to where you want to be.
Right after my hubby and I had finished renovating our first fixer upper we went on a trip. The first leg of the trip was to San Francisco which I traveled with my oldest son who was getting a fitness certification. Seeing the Golden Gate Bridge for the first time was amazing. It truly is one of the most beautiful modern wonders of the world. The sheer magnitude of its scale is impressive.
Even more impressive is the story behind its accomplishment and all of the obstacles the architect and city overcame in building it. We loved everything about that trip: the wonderful architecture and hilly streets, the amazing food, the bay and the hip vibe. It was there we decided to take the next step in our entrepreneurial journey. That trip marked us.
What are the Pillars of a Growth Mindset?
Vision
This San Fran trip and also the second leg of our trip to Waco, Tx to visit the Magnolia Market, Silos and Magnolia Table was life changing. We were surrounded by so much inspiration and got clear on what we wanted. We decided to seriously pursue our passion and began sketching that out. Our vision was born! It’s that googly eyed, warm and fuzzy feeling you get when you are doing what you love.
Can you relate?
Having a vision is the most important element of the Growth Mindset because it establishes your destination. It’s the map and blueprint. Once you can begin to “see” yourself with it, you will progressively move towards it.
Emotions-Thoughts
But the vision is only the first step. Before I became an entrepreneur, I struggled to see myself as an one. I spent hundreds of dollars on e-books, courses, even group coaching but still didn’t see the results I wanted. I had lots of complaints and even more excuses, but no results. I complained about my lack of time, my full time job and my lack of energy. I had a vision but my toxic emotions were blocking my vision from growing. I felt frustrated when I’d set a goal and not complete it.
I felt stuck and had no idea how to grow my business. At times I’d compare myself with someone else’s results and envied their progress. When you believe in your vision, and you expect it to come to pass your emotions are aligned. You feel excited, expectantly joyful and grateful that you have the realization of your vision to look forward to. You’re at peace because everyday brings you that much closer to your dreams.
Purpose
Your purpose is based on your value but it’s also based on the value you have to offer. You have an identity and know what you were created for. It gets you out of the bed every morning and sustains you when you are tired, uninspired and facing an obstacle. Purpose will ignite a dormant dream and forgotten talents. Nothing can beat the inspiration that comes from knowing you have a unique something that the world needs.
Sometimes your biggest challenges have the makings of purpose. Your talents and skills were created to support the fulfillment of your purpose. And the things that anger you in this world may also be clues that reveal your purpose. Make sense? Good, let’s move on.
ExpectatION
When you have a vision that is fueled by your joy, love and purpose, you walk it through and reverse engineer it. You set a date when you expect it to be completed. You see the end from the beginning. You see yourself already having achieved it and work your business from that angle. Expectation is exciting. It’s the engine that powers you through to your finish line. When a mother is expectantly waiting the birth of her child she goes into a nesting phase where she is cleaning, organizing and prepping the nursery. Anticipation brings with it preparation and planning. You begin to do in order to have. Time is spent everyday working towards your goal.
Time
When I finally grew beyond my mental obstacles and started developing momentum, one thing was very different: I took advantage of every single minute I had. Time became a resource and a friend instead of an annoyance. Every single day was filled with purpose, expectation, planning, tracking and learning. I no longer blamed a lack of time for not being able to get any business building tasks completed. I saw myself every day working towards my goals.
That felt good!
It’s amazing how much time you can recoup when you start looking for ways to optimize your time. I started meal planning to give me more time to work on my business after work. I’d get up earlier and get work done in the mornings before my full time job. I set schedules and stuck to them. If I had a target date I had to meet, I’d manage my time accordingly so I’d hit my goals. I got very serious about the time I had to build and grow my business and i started to see major progress.
Goals
Since I started finding pockets of time, I started breaking down my goals into smaller tasks I could do daily. This time I felt good about checking off my list of tasks because I knew what I had to do and I was accomplishing it every day. Every business has goals that help it grow. If I didn’t get my tasks done before work, sometimes I’d work on them during lunch and after cooking dinner. Because I had a plan I didn’t waste time trying to figure out what to do when I had time and got to work. Once you nail down your goals you can create a Growth Plan.
You’re only a work-in-progress if you’re working towards your progress.
Dorcas Wood
Growth Planning
Growth is not accidental. When I think of the times in my life I was able to achieve a milestone, I was intentional, there was a strategy there, consistency and results. I’ve always been a planner and a tracker. I love a good ol’ To Do list but it wasn’t until I started developing a Growth Plan that I started to make progress in leaps and bounds. No more hit or miss but intentional growth and success. Anything that needs to grow, needs a plan in order to grow.
These are some of the things I included in my Growth Plan:
- Daily business growth tasks based on weekly, monthly goals
- Roll-over tasks I didn’t complete the day before
- I daily visualize myself already having successfully grown my business
- Gratitude to the Lord for all of my blessings
- Daily business declaration
- Review of my purpose, my audience, my value add services and planned digital content
- I make sure I listen to a motivational video daily
Tracking
If you’re not growing, you’re not going. When you track your progress, you unlock visibility into your business- literally gold mines.
- You can see how much work you’re accomplishing, the health of your business, what works and what doesn’t work, how to grow your business.
- Tracking builds momentum and puts you at the top of your game.
- Tracking requires you to look at the past so the future can be better.
- Tracking can help you redefine your brand, product focus, purpose and optimize your value proposition.
We are supposed to move through life from one lesson learned to another- grace to grace so to speak. What we learned today becomes a jumping board to the next level. There are many ways to track your business. You can start with iPhone notes which is a free app and work your way to Asana, Quickbooks or Salesforce for your Customer Relationship Management tool.
I journal my Blog Growth tasks every day and it’s helped me exponentially grow my business in a short time. If you’re a blogger, journaling helps you keep a pulse on what’s working and you can easily replicate it, then you can optimize your Blog Growth.
Training
All the training I’d bought came in handy when I was finally able to jump start my Blog Growth. I make sure to follow other entrepreneurs on social media and every month buy books that will help me and my business grow. Just this week I bought 4 books! Some will just stay in queue until I get to them but reading has always been such a passion of mine.
Now I dedicate all of Sunday to resting and reading. After church, Sundays are a No-Work zone and instead take time to spend with family, learn and relax. This year I actually started putting money away for going to conferences. I’m leveling up my training investment this year. I have purchased courses for starting a blog, developing an IG Marketing strategy, Pinterest courses, photography courses, personal growth, leadership and entreprenuerial content.
CONSISTENCY
Take a quick inventory at where you are today and you can easily tell whether you have a Growth Mindset. Ask yourself these questions:
- Do you have a Growth Plan?
- Are you actively looking for ways to grow either personally or professionally? Do you have a vision you are working towards?
- Are you seeing progressive growth in your life?
- Are you tracking the results of your strategies?
- Are you investing in yourself and learning every day?
- Or do you feel stuck?
99% of the time when we feel stuck it’s because we stopped growing. We were designed to Grow Where we Were Planted! Scientific research shows if our minds are not learning daily our brain will release toxic chemicals! We were meant to develop a vision and purpose for our lives so we can add value to others. I believe you have the potential to optimize your life.
Do you?
RESULTS
If you look around, the only people that ever succeed are the ones that never quit. Diligence is a real power that will carry you through to success. When you develop a Growth Mindset and put a Growth Plan in place consistently, your success is virtually guaranteed.
Your successful results are initially birthed in your vision. You always see your goal in your mind and heart before you see it in your hand. Every single day you invest in your business and yourself, makes you a success. The fact you are reading this shows you want to learn and grow.
Why You Should Develop a Growth Mindset!
The most important thing you could do this year is develop a growth mindset.
- It’s a powerful tool that will help you grow any area of your life into a something of value and significance.
- It will help you define your purpose and learning how to move forward in life with a Growth Mindset will set you up for success.
- It will activate divine appointments, amazing opportunities, the fulfillment of your purpose and most importantly the power to transform someone’s life.
Growth Mind reSet
Most of us need to work through some mental blocks that we acquired from our parents or our childhood experiences which block our growth. You can reset your Growth Mindset, but you have to invest in yourself and dedicate some time to it everyday.
Pinky promise?
This is where it gets really good. If you are always looking from the glass-half-empty side of life, I got you. I created a tool that helped me switch over from a Fixed Mindset to a Growth Mindset and it took some time. I’ve had to do it several times for different areas of my life at different times of my life. Those lack thoughts, beliefs and emotions become habits and have to be replaced by beliefs that serve your highest calling.
The Growth Mind reSet helped me get unstuck and literally launched my entrepreneurial journey. I couldn’t get clear on my vision or purpose. But you can fast-track your success. Download my Growth Mind Reset for Free to jump start your Growth Mindset.
Psst..Hey friend, can I give you one piece of advice, from one friend to another? Whatever you do today, make sure you start. Right now even! This minute..
If you stuck with me so far, hopefully it’s crystal clear why you need to develop a Growth Mindset.
Start today and commit to growing and developing a Growth Mindset. It’s time to give birth to that business dream you’ve been carrying around inside you, Momma.
Beautiful babies were meant to be carried for only 9 months then birthed into this world and so were beautiful dreams. So whatcha waiting for?
Let me know in the comments what you would use your Growth Mindset to accomplish!
Let’s Grow Where We Are Planted and Bloom with Grace!
To Your Growth,
