Creating a Mindset for Change…
Are you familiar with the concept of a growth mindset. It's a way of thinking and behaving that gives us a more hopeful way of creating habits that are sustainable without having to rely on high levels of motivation or unwavering will-power or discipline.
Let’s begin by exploring the concept of growth mindset
The concept of growth mindset is based on the work of Carol Dweck, a Stanford University Psychologist and researcher, and author of "Mindset, The New Psychology of Success". In her work she highlights the value of having a “growth mindset”. She describes this as the brain’s capacity to learn and solve problems. She outlines 4 steps for changing from a “fixed mindset” to a “growth mindset”. One of the concepts that she shares that resonates strongly with me and my clients is the concept of “not yet”. There is so much power behind these words - they open us to a world of opportunities and possibilities.
To make it easy to try this out, I took the key elements for the steps in her process and created the acronym ACTT - a simple but powerful approach to creating habits that last.
A is for Awareness
C is for Choice
T is for Thought Challenge
T is for Taking Action
Here’s how it goes:
STEP 1: it begins with being AWARE of the voice in our head – our thoughts that come up when we are facing a change or a challenge. Our initial thoughts might be “I can’t do that…I don’t have the ability, skills, knowledge etc.…what if it doesn’t work…what if I try and I fail…and we remind ourselves that it has never worked in the past.
STEP 2: Then we acknowledge that we have a CHOICE to go the way of negative thinking - a fixed mindset - and the consequence that goes with it, which unfortunately only serves to keep us stuck. Or, we have the option to flip to a more positive way of thinking - a growth mindset - that moves us forward. An example to demonstrate these opposing mindsets might be that we tell ––ourself that we don’t have the skills, the ability, the time, the energy to meet a challenge – a fixed mindset; or we tell ourself that we may need to learn a new skill, get additional support, rearrange the schedule, or explore new options to meet this challenge - the growth mindset. Asking questions that leads us to a solution is a great first step here in getting unstuck.
STEP 3: If we are coming from a place of a fixed and limited way of thinking, the next step is to begin by engaging in a conversation with ourselves to challenge our thinking – looking at the consequences of this way of thinking and talking to ourselves about the pros and cons. Think of it as a Thought Challenge. Ask if what you are telling yourself is true. Can we punch any holes in it? Does our way of thinking about this issue or situation keep us stuck or move us forward?
When we choose a fixed mindset with the belief “I can’t”, “what if I fail?” the consequence is that we are immobilized by the imaginary fear of failure and stay stuck.
When we choose to adopt a growth mindset it is the belief that “It might mean learning a new skill or arranging my time differently, or getting support, but I can do it, and we are more inclined to move forward and be open to possibilities and new ways of approaching the issue or situation. Keep in mind the powerful words “not yet”. Missteps or falling back or falling off are just information about what didn’t work, and we can re-work or tweak our initial plan.
STEP 4: Choose to TAKE ACTION that will lead to where we would like to be rather than keeping us stuck in a place we don’t belong and doesn’t work for us. Ask the questions that will move you forward towards a solution.
Stay focused on the effort and progress being made, not on being perfect. Enjoy the journey!
Remember the powerful words “not yet”.
CALL TO ACTION:Pick a situation you would like to change or a habit you would like to create and follow the 4-step process for creating a growth mindset using the acronym ACTT to guide you.
Adopt a new way of looking at change…focus on your strategy, the effort, the process and your progress. In moments of things not going exactly as you expected, remember “not yet”. Something that feels like failure can be re-framed to be something that just needs refining, tweaking fine-tuning, reframed or re-worked in some way. Ask the questions that will help you to solve the problem, rather than magnify it.
Be curious, be open, be flexible and have fun!!!
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