The language of growth, if cultivated routinely, finds its way into other areas of life. “Difficult,” when one is equipped with a growth mindset, is just the beginning. There is a difference between a challenge being difficult and impossible. An athlete with a fixed mindset does not reap the same benefit from a challenging experience. They might be able to identify a sticking point within their attempt and adapt their training efforts accordingly, or reflect on their lack of rest in the days leading up to the attempt and prioritize differently in the future. Whether the weight is successfully lifted or not, the athlete’s best effort will provide accurate feedback regarding their abilities. If one were to adopt a growth mindset and identify that the weight – heavy as it may be – will take all of one’s strength to move, thereby giving full effort, then the experience will provide a learning opportunity. After all, the weight was too heavy to lift. There is no need to give one’s best effort for a task perceived as “impossible,” and there will likely be little to evaluate. If one says that the weight is too heavy to lift, then when they do not succeed in lifting it, nothing has been lost. In these examples, the initial language is the product of a fixed mindset, which might come from a subliminal fear of failure. Is the weight too heavy to lift or will the weight take all of one’s strength to move? Is the team across town too good to beat or will it take a coordinated team effort to win? When coaches refer to the life lessons learned through sport, growth mindset might be one of the most powerful. How one engages with those challenges (and their perceived level of agency within them) will influence further behavior. In jobs, relationships, and daily operations, challenges are absolute. A fixed mindset, which is characterized by the interpretation of situations as unchangeable, leaves little or no room for personal agency ( Dweck, 2015). The positive implications are many, and in a 2009 issue of Olympic Coaching Magazine, Growth-pioneer Carol Dweck identified that a growth mindset allows athletes to “embrace learning, welcome challenges, mistakes, and feedback.”Ī growth mindset guides one’s response to challenge and their ability to self-reflect in the face of setbacks. Growth mindset is a mental schema that has the power to influence our thoughts, decisions, and behaviors.
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