Investing in our personal growth is one of the most fulfilling feelings that strengthens us at our core. One of the areas that has a huge return on investment in personal growth is continually growing our mindset. You’ve probably heard the saying that mindset is everything. Well it is. The reason for that is it serves as the lens in which we view our world from the inside out. Our mindset enables us to change our outer world by shifting the way we think in our inner world.

Mindset is grounded in our belief system. When we challenge our mindset, we challenge our conventional way of thinking. Our thoughts come from our beliefs and are made up of habitual patterns that run mostly on auto-pilot as a result of conditioning. Our conditioning comes from family, school, friends and our different circles of influence. We continue to validate these beliefs through our personal experiences, and as a result, they become the belief system that runs our life whether they are true or not. To grow our mindset means we have to think differently and rethink those beliefs that have held us back. The more we understand how our mind works and how we can create more empowering beliefs, the more we can expand our mindset.

Below are eight qualities to consider to help you expand your mindset:

1. Be aware of your two opposing mindsets-your fixed and growth mindset

When we have a vision and new goals, it naturally is going to introduce change in our life. Change, even positive change, creates uncertainty and uncertainty creates different fears. So be cognizant that whenever you want to grow and thrive, your needs and comfort zone will be threatened. When your ego mind is threatened, it will throw up doubts, fears and problems that could influence you and hold you back without your awareness. This is the conflict that we face between our fixed and growth mindsets. 

When you become more mindful of the difference, you can become more of an active driver in that process. Become more cognizant of who is driving you at all times. Is it your fixed mindset or your growth mindset? A fixed mindset creates limitations and throws out subtle fears, uncertainty and doubts that get masked in your thoughts, feelings, actions and behaviors. A growth mindset sees challenges and failures as opportunities for learning and growth. This difference plays out in people’s lives, relationships, and achievement of their goals. When you become more aware of the difference between your fixed and growth mindset, you can learn to identify the different thinking patterns and retrain your mind to think in terms of growth vs. limitations. With that deeper understanding you can take back control of the process so you can continually build a growth mindset that enables you to focus on thriving vs. surviving.

2. Distinguish the difference between abundance thinking and scarcity thinking

Having a growth mindset requires considering new perspectives, new ideas, beliefs and habits. People who are dead-set on approaching the world in a particular way, will probably reach a dead-end to their growth. It is when we open our mind to the limitless possibilities around us and within us that we begin to see things we didn’t even know existed. When we take away limits and a fixed way at looking at things we can see abundance.

Abundance thinking begins with having an open open mind, It is about believing that what seems to be impossible is possible. It is about opening up to the idea that you might change your views about what you can achieve and helping others see those same possibilities. Abundance thinking is when we see opportunity even when things do not seem possible. It is not making assumptions what conventional thinking leads us to believe. It comes from the word “yes”, “can” and “believe”. It is truly believing that dreams can come true when we can still see them, believe them and have a clear path to go after them. 

Scarcity thinking, on the other hand, comes from a fixed way of thinking. It comes from lack, from fear and from the word “no” and “can’t”. It comes from conditioning and a way of thinking that limit one’s mind to opening up.

Our language matters. Our self-talk matters. How we communicate matters. It tells us all about whether we are operating from abundance thinking or scarcity thinking. So if you are looking to make a significant change, identify and distinguish which thought patterns you are automatically using and adjust accordingly. 

3. Embrace continuous learning and apply what you know.

Continuous learning enables us to keep seeing new perspectives to grow, set goals, achieve, overcome hidden fears, manage overwhelm, stress, etc… . It’s not only saying we know but applying it to grow. 

There is no end to our personal growth. It doesn’t matter how old we are, how good we are, how wealthy or poor we are, how successful or not successful we feel, how happy or unhappy we are, there’s always more for us to explore. The key is to be open to growth.

4. Change your perspective on fear and failure.

We probably all know that fear is one of the key blocks that prevent us from growing. One of the most common fears that hold people back from growing and thriving is the fear of failure. . We cannot grow if we do not have the courage to grow out of our comfort zone. But with that courage comes fear. The fear of “what if I fail”. This is a fear that is on a continuum that we have to challenge at every level of growth we want to take.

To change our perspective, we need to train our brain to think “So what if I fail” or “What if I succeed” – or “What if I learn something that can lead to greater possibilities?” or “What if failure is an asset for me to grow and get to the next level?”. By changing our perspective, we really can never fail in the conventional way of thinking. We can never be an expert at something or succeed at something without learning or expanding our thinking. Whether we’re learning a new skill, such as learning to be a better public speaker, a better athlete, or learning how to play an instrument for example, there will be failure, mistakes and set backs. 

People who learn how to overcome their fears, failures and setbacks are those that go on to do “extra” ordinary things. It is that “extra” perspective that turns ordinary results into extraordinary ones. Failure, setbacks and tragedies are those “extra” things that provide the opportunity to learn what we otherwise couldn’t have. They are those lessons that can be applied to future attempts. So when we change our mindset and become more mindful of our fears, we will step into our power to succeed. It’s all about the perspective of our mindset.

5. View everything as a journey and an experiment.

Allow yourself to view everything as an experiment. Our mind accepts experiments as something to try without it feeling permanent, risky or scary. When you want to do something new, something big, something you really want, think of planning it out in smaller chunks as experiments to achieve. It keeps your mind feeling safe and creates less anxiety or uncertainty about the fear of conventional failure.

6. Focus on making daily progress over achieving perfection.

Daily improvement and achievement in small steps is incredibly powerful. In order to do something big, start small. When you work on improving incrementally each day by just 1%, your progress will fuel your energy to keep going. That’s why it is so important to have a plan. Because plans help you see progress.

Progress is the opposite of perfection. When you want things to be perfect you spend endless hours either preparing, researching or doing but little in terms of forward movement. That feeling over time becomes very difficult and frustrating. We deplete if we do not see results. Perfection keeps us from achieving the quick wins that we need.

When you focus on progress, you will figure out an easier way to do things and a faster way to get results, yet still be able to achieve the quality level that works for you. By shifting perspective on making progress towards achieving your goal, you will create a chain reaction of results that will give you the energy to go on.

7. Build Inner patience and trust

A growth mindset includes learning patience from a deeper perspective. As you learn more patience, you acquire more wisdom. For we all know that any goal we want, any success we seek does not happen overnight. Patience is a mindset that helps our mind slow down from wanting to get somewhere fast because of some underlying anxiety. There is a saying that goes “taking it slow is the fastest way to get to where you want to go”.

Lack of patience creates anxiety because it triggers the fear of running out of time, or the fear of not knowing how to do something – which is ultimately about the fear of failure or rejection. We can learn patience through meditation and mindfulness.

Anytime you feel impatient, first take some deep breaths and remember that impatience won’t get you there faster. In fact it’s the opposite. It will slow you down and can even block you completely from moving forward.

8. Be committed to determination and perseverance.

When you are determined and committed to continually improving yourself, you will see how valuable it is to keep accessing more and more of your potential. The more of your potential you access, the more you will want to stretch yourself and challenge yourself to achieve. It is in that journey of determination and perseverance that you discover your deeper self, your power, more authentic confidence, more fulfillment and more inner joy.

Determination is a valuable asset to have in many facets of life. Even people with minimal talent have become incredibly successful through great determination.

In Summary

It takes courage to grow. It challenges our conventional way of thinking. However, it can be a lot easier when we understand how to use our mindset to support our desire to grow. Too many people try to grind their way to success, wealth and happiness which with time isn’t sustainable. When we grow our mindset with intention, it strengthens us from the inside out.

Your mindset is the key to your growth. Take a hard look at your mindset before continuing on your personal development journey and challenge yourself whenever you put roadblocks for yourself to achieve more.