Could this mindset be holding you back?

I’ve been listening to the book, Mindset, by Carol Dweck, on my daily walks.

In the book, Carol discusses the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset. My guess is that you’ve heard of these concepts before. They’ve been around for years.

In case these concepts are new to you or you want a refresher, here’s a quick description of each mindset:

People with a fixed mindset tend to think in terms of absolutes. Individual traits, such as intelligence, talent, or personality are innate. What you’re born with is what you get. They can’t be changed. Doesn’t matter if those traits serve you or not.

People with a growth mindset, on the other hand, believe that change and development are a given. They place an emphasis on growth and learning. Failures and setbacks are challenges to be faced and lessons to be learned.

The interesting bit is that you can have a fixed mindset in one area of your life and a growth mindset in another.

For example, you may have a growth mindset when it comes to learning a new hobby — completely fine being a novice and sucking at first. Improving as you practice. While on the other hand, you may feel the need to be the perfect parent at all times.

Being reminded of these two mindsets got me thinking about what I’ve seen in myself and other coaches when it comes to putting ourselves out there.

See, I’ve seen a lot of coaches feel like they need to be an absolute expert in something before they’re comfortable sharing their wisdom, whether it’s writing a blog post or working with clients. I know I felt like that in the beginning.

I used to think this was just about fear. And part of it is. But after listening to this book, I realize now that it goes deeper than just fear.

If someone has a fixed mindset that tells them they need to be perfect or excellent at something before they can do that thing, of course they’re going to procrastinate (or not do it at all). Their identity is involved.

If making a mistake in your content or while working with a client means that you’re not a great coach (and with a fixed mindset you can’t learn to become one), it would feel paralyzing.

The good news is that we can shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset pretty quickly.

The first step is just being open to the idea that we may have a fixed mindset in that area.

If you’ve been procrastinating to get something done in your business, such as posting a piece of content, you may want to check-in with yourself to see if you’ve had a fixed mindset in this area.

If so, give yourself a break. It’s not your fault. For most of us, we had plenty of opportunities to learn the fixed mindset in school — good at writing, bad at math, A student, B student, labels, labels, labels, etc., etc., etc.

It would be amazing if anyone had a growth mindset in every area of their lives.

Even Carol admits she had a pretty fixed mindset when she first started studying these concepts.

I hope you find these concepts as helpful as I have.

And if you’re ready to make signifiant progress on your business in the next 90-days busting past any mindset blocks, hop on a Coach Action Plan call with me. We’ll map out your personalized 90-Day action plan so this year can be the year you have a full roster of amazing clients.

Because while having a growth mindset is important, so is having clarity around what you should actually be working on so you don’t waste time on the wrong things.

Just reach out and I’ll get you more info.