Cultivating a Growth Mindset

Growth mindset is a skill that is beneficial to us all, both inside and outside the gym.

Your ability to question your thoughts, challenge your beliefs, and accept feedback and new information are all directly related to the amount of growth you can experience.

And since life is always changing, it's important to be able to change with it when needed.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

Having a growth mindset means you believe all things are possible through learning and cultivating new skills. A fixed mindset, however, believes that things are unchangeable. Here a few examples:

• Fixed mindset: "I am not a runner."
• Growth mindset: "I am still learning how to improve my running skills."
• Fixed mindset: "I can't do a pull-up."
• Growth mindset: "I can't do a pull-up yet, but I am working hard to make it happen."
• Fixed mindset: "It's hard for me to lose weight."
• Growth mindset: "I am learning new ways to figure out how to best support weight loss for my body."

The fixed mindset statements above believe that "it is what it is" and there is no other way, whereas the growth mindsets reflect that there is always room to learn, improve, and figure things out as you go.

Why does growth mindset matter?

Fixed mindset puts you inside a box, often without you even realizing it. It is a self-fulfilled prophecy of limiting beliefs. We are learning through new studies on the power of the brain and neuroplasticity just how powerfully our thoughts and beliefs impact our life experience. If you truly belief you can't, then you won't... plain and simple. You've already decided that something is impossible for you, so you naturally won't go out of your way to find ways to make it possible.

So it's important to ask: what if your fixed beliefs are wrong?

So many times in our gym, people achieve the runs, the pull-ups, and the weight loss they never thought possible. Slowly they cultivate a growth mindset that allows them to understand... absolutely anything is possible if they are willing to learn and put in the right work.

Then, once they've achieved the pull-ups they once thought possible inside the gym, their potential for possibilities outside the gym also become limitless.

Having a growth mindset cues your brain to always look for solutions. It sees the areas of possibility and is willing to do what it takes to change. From that state anything is truly possible, and your ability to have the life you want becomes within reach.

Where to start?

Begin by questioning your thoughts and beliefs. Just because something is inside your head, doesn't make it a fact.

Anytime you have a thought or belief that feels factual, ask yourself: "Is this actually true? Or are there more possibilities that I haven't considered?" Then, seek out all the ways that you could be wrong by learning something new or cultivating new skills to support your growth in that area.

You are likely the only person in the way of having the life you desire. If you have a growth mindset, you will always find a way to make things happen.

Need more support in this area? Growth mindset is one of the core values of Camp Rhino Boise/Caldwell, so it's a quality we seek when hiring our team. Get together with one of our staff members to discuss where there are more possibilities for you to grow and change into the person you want to be.

Click here to schedule a free consult and cultivate a growth mindset with us all.