Is the glass half-empty or half-full? Read on to find out how you can develop a growth mindset in 7 steps, and how it can boost your riding performance.
How you see life can influence every part of your life, including how you ride.
Professor Carol Dweck, World renowned expert in mindset, talks about in her book ‘Mindset – changing the way you think to fulfil your potential’. She’s found that it’s not just our talents and abilities that result in our success, it’s whether we approach them with a ‘growth’ mindset or not.
So what’s a growth mindset anyway?
Through her various studies Dweck found that people either had a growth mindset or a fixed mindset. If you have a growth mindset you believe you can develop your skills and abilities. Whereas, if you have a fixed mindset you believe that your skills and intelligence are finite, innate and therefore can be improved. Dweck states that people with a growth mindset are far more capable of higher achievements and success, than people with a fixed mindset.
Growth mindset theory levels the playing field between people born with genetic advantages and those without. With the right mindset, a person with a lower IQ could achieve more than a person with a higher IQ. A person with less optimal physical advantages could achieve more success than someone ‘built’ perfectly for their sport, if they have a growth mindset.
Think of your favourite famous rider. Do you assume their success is the result of innate talent? What if the only way these riders are different only because of their mindset? Think about what you could achieve if you worked on your mindset.
Dweck’s research shows that, even though we develop our mindset as young children, we can change it. The brain can change continuously in response to new experiences and learnings. So we can create new neural pathways and change existing ones to change the way we think. Result!
If you start taking the steps to develop a growth mindset, you can take your riding to the next level. You will be able to move past anything that’s holding you back.
So are you ready to make a change? Here are seven things you can do to develop a growth mindset.
7 steps to develop a growth mindset
#1 Accept and embrace failure
If you have a fixed mindset you’ll probably find failure scary. You might feel that failing is proof that you’re not very good. No-one wants to be highlighted as a rubbish rider, so you might find you avoid taking on challenges, in case you fail. You then don’t work on improving your abilities and so this belief becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy and they fail.
On the flip side, if you have a growth mindset, you’ll have a completely different view on failure. To you, failure isn’t a big deal, it’s actually an important part of the learning process. You won’t try to hide your failures, as you see them as proof that you’re taking action and moving forward.
If you have a growth mindset you don’t care about what others think. You act for yourself and not to get approval from anyone else. You won’t be phased by making mistakes, you’ll just learn and move on. You’ll recognise the how far you’ve come and you appreciate the chance to grow.
#2 Practice ‘incremental success’
Self-development can seem like a herculean task, but big goals can become overwhelming and can even cause you to give up before you even get started.
Breaking these large goals into smaller, more manageable goals can help you start to achieve and gain momentum.
Even dedicating 20 minutes a day to working on your goal will really make a dent if you’re consistent.
By achieving smaller goals more regularly you’ll eventually reach a point where you’ve actually achieved a bigger goal.
#3 Swap your words
Words are extremely powerful. By swapping some of the words you use for ones with more positive connotations you can help to reframe the way you think.
For example, you don’t fail, you learn. There aren’t problems, just challenges.
When you’re tired, don’t tell yourself you’re exhausted, you simply decide to recharge.
Start using the word ‘yet’. It’s a brilliant word because it opens up opportunity and potential. For example, ‘I can’t ride a half pass properly’ versus ‘I can’t ride a half pass properly yet’.
#4 Accept feedback
Dealing with feedback can be tricky. If you have a growth mindset you’ll accept constructive criticism and use it to improve yourself and develop your skills. If you have a fixed mindset and someone gives you feedback you might feel defensive. Perhaps you start to blame other people or the situation, rather than excepting it for what it is, learning from it and moving on.
If you reframe this type of feedback as just advice from someone who wants to help, it will help you feel more positive about it. Which in turn will help you take it in and act on it to improve yourself.
Always think about what can you learn from the feedback? How can you do things differently for a better result? Remember you choose your reaction, so make your reaction a positive one.
#5 Learn to catch your fixed mindset voice
There’s a negative voice associated with the fixed mindset. Casually reminding you that you’re not that great or that you’ll never be able to do it. It’s so important to notice that negative voice and address it each time you hear it.
This voice will hold you back and stop you growing and becoming who you can be. When you hear the fixed mindset voice, re-frame your thoughts. Remember you have control over whether you’ll listen to this voice or not.
#6 Seek help
Even if you have a growth mindset, knowing when to ask for help is really important.
Typically people with a fixed mindset will be more reluctant to ask for help because they feel they should be able to do things alone. Growth mindset people know if they don’t currently have a particular skill or ability, then they can learn it with help.
Seeking training or working with a mentor shows a commitment to continual learning and self-development, which are central to a growth mindset.
#7 Don’t stop
Perseverance is the number one trait of people with a growth mindset.
Many studies have shown that to achieve mastery in anything you need to get a minimum of 10,000 hours of practice. You simply can’t get there without a huge amount dedication.
A positive growth mindset will help us to improve our performance at anything and keep our motivation even when it get tough. Success is a marathon, not a sprint. Celebrating your successes along the way will help you keep your motivation high.
Conclusion
Think about how developing a growth mindset could affect your riding? How can you use the points mentioned to impact your mindset around what you want to achieve, how you’ll overcome challenges and how you’ll relate to others who can help you get where you want to go.
As Dweck says: “We like to think of our champions and idols as superheroes who were born different from us. We don’t like to think of them as relatively ordinary people who made themselves extraordinary.”