Developing a growth mindset is something that needs to be done not just by entrepreneurs and business people, but by regular individuals.
There are many ways to grow and develop and you can learn how to achieve a growth mindset for whatever it is that you want to do. In order to do so, you need to understand how the mind works and how events and finances come to materialize. If not, you are going to be subject to the same events over and over again with results that are suboptimal.
Step One – Like Attracts Like
In order to achieve a growth mindset, you must come to the understanding that what you focus on generates momentum in a very natural and organic way. In the beginning, it might take a long time to set up a business. And this is commonly known as the grind, where people have to ‘hustle’ in order to make progress.
But once the business turns profitable, it really takes off. Profit tends to create more profit, and debt tends to create more debt. This is why we are seeing increased polarization where the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, though people like to tell themselves that it is a result of some kind of structured inequality in order to avoid taking responsibility for their own mindset. It can also be observed by the fact that when a homeless person is given a million dollars, they simply end up homeless again within 6 months. Financial circumstances are a product of our thoughts and beliefs. Until our minds are mastered, our financial situations will continue to be in disarray.
It follows that the more we can focus on wealth the more of it we will have. This also applies to health and well-being. If we can turn our attention towards something, it will grow given enough time. The first step to attaining a growth mindset is to understand that like attracts like and that you have to focus your attention on what you want in order to get it. And you need to focus on what you want intensely and in creative ways.
It is important to remember that growth is most often non-linear. While blogging, a person may make no money for the first two years with astronomical returns on the third and fourth. The same can be said across many areas of life, even those that are not financially related.
Defensive Techniques
Understanding that like attracts like is the first step that is needed in order to instill a growth mindset. But there are two steps to the process. The first is focusing on what you really want. And the second is avoiding focusing on what you hate. The difference is subtle but very significant. It is nearly impossible to focus on happy and positive thoughts when faced with depression or anxiety. So, you need to make use of certain defensive techniques in order to avoid feelings of pain, embarrassment, shame, humiliation, and more which tend to recur over and over for some people.
You also need to handle your current situation, where you may not have enough money and the world is screaming “not enough” at you in a way that can be difficult to ignore. So, you need intermediary processes or “defensive techniques” to bring you into a state of neutrality. From here, you can then reach for what truly delights you with ease.
There are many strategies that you can use which will have a beneficial effect on your mind over the long term. You will find that you are less anxious and stressed and that recurring negative thoughts and emotions tend to crop up less and less frequently as time goes by. Meditation has been verified by numerous scientific studies as having beneficial effects on significant biomarkers, such as blood pressure and cortisol levels. There are thousands of independent studies indicating that meditation is effective for the alleviation of depression, stress, and anxiety. The same can be said of Yoga and mindfulness, which have unique advantages. These are all tools that can help to bring you into a state of bliss. After you complete them, you might find that your previous problems won’t matter anymore or are not as serious as you thought.
In practice, you don’t have to do meditation, yoga, or mindfulness. These are all wonderful techniques that have a myriad of positive effects on the body and mind. But the aim is really to put you in a state of well-being and relaxation. From here, you can reorient yourself towards growth. Well-being and relaxation are personal states. What works for one person might not work for another. So, consider walks in nature, massage, essential oils, classical music, going to the gym, running, swimming, dancing, art, creative writing, or anything else that puts you in a good mood. However, it is ideal to capitalize on your positive state.
Growth Mindset Business Practices
For those who are looking to develop a growth mindset within their business environment, there are a number of best practices. The first of these involves looking at where your business is going wrong, what its weaknesses are, and how to solve them. If you don’t look at what is not working, then it will not be possible to expand and grow. You can apply the same principles to your personal life in terms of areas that you would like to expand. This can be public speaking, emotional well-being, academic credentials, or any other area that you would like to expand.
Another way to develop a growth mindset is to view all challenges as opportunities and setbacks as fuel for increased growth. When you get a negative comment on social media, you can respond by thanking the customer for bringing the problem to your attention and rewarding them with a discount for helping you out. This is the difference between a growth-based and problem-orientated mindset.
Testing and experimentation are other ways that you can grow and expand your business. Just keep in mind that the main reason that startups and small businesses fail is because of something known as “premature scaling”. This is a fancy way of saying that the business tried to grow but spend its budget before is was able to do so, in all the wrong areas. Still, try to test and experiment where possible. When you find something that works really, really, really well, then it is time to allocate resources extensively in that specific region. Your business will grow quickly if you wait for golden opportunities and then pounce instead of growing for the sake of growing. This is what all the most successful investors and entrepreneurs do.
Core Components of Creating Growth
Once you have become proficient at bringing yourself into balance, you can then use the power of your mind to instill a growth process. There are a wide number of strategies available. The most simple and obvious strategy is to outline where you want to go in terms of figures. You might want a new house or a set amount each year.
Create a map or outline of this and place is somewhere you will see every day. Your ability to focus or visualize on this essay or picture will determine how quickly it manifests. The law of attraction is a law, not a vague abstraction. There is no way that you can focus on something exclusively and not have it manifest in some fashion. In a simple sequential order:
- Identify your desires.
- Create an image or essay that is inspirational to you.
- Focus on it every day.
This is the basic template for growth. It is important to create a mission statement of a set of values or desires that you review regularly. You will still do much day-to-day activity in fulfilling your desires. But it is the focus on your passion that provides the fuel for your insights and work. This is partially why those who are passionate have more energy levels as they are working towards what they really want to do.
Another quick path to growth can actually be finding the thing that you fear or hate the most, and doing it intensely for a long period of time. This is a technique recommended by many alternative practitioners that can yield huge success. Once the demons have been vanquished, there is nothing stopping you from explosive growth.
Key Points to Remember
When you are creating a growth mindset within yourself, remember that it is not a good idea to completely abandon everything practically in order to try and mentally induce growth. Many people have tried to quit their jobs and simply manifest what they wanted. And they have all failed. Because it is nearly impossible to focus on growth while spending money and watching nothing come in. So, keep your job and rely on extra safety for now. At the same time, focus on growth and achievement. When this really manifests, you can then quit your job with zero risk. You need a foundation or platform to reach the next level, and it takes time to work.
It can also be a good idea to take stock now and again of all you have accomplished. Gratitude is an essential practice that few people make use of. The common tendency is to simply keep acquiring more and more and more. If you can balance your successes with humility and gratitude, then you are setting yourself up for more fulfillment compared to simply chasing desires on your own.
Focus On What Will Be – Not What Is
All great leaders in any industry had one thing in common. They focused on what they wanted, not what was in front of them. This is the clearest and most obvious trait that separates the great from the ordinary. You must focus on what you want as opposed to what is in front of you. The brain is not able to distinguish between real and imaginary and you will get what you want as long as you are able to focus on it intensely.
This can be difficult to do in real-time. But there are some fun strategies that you can use to help you to achieve a growth mindset. For example, try to visualize where your business will be in 5 years and act as if it is already there. You can also put a $100-dollar bill in your pocket and keep it there for a week. Walk into town and take note of all that you are able to afford. This is healthy because you can afford many items when walking down the street, and you get into this mindset in a very tangible way. This is because you will really believe that you can afford it due to the physical element of having that $100 bill. In many ways, you are investigating methods that trick your mind into the reality that you want to have. If left to its own devices, the mind will continue to generate worry and fear.
Conclusion
You can develop a growth mindset by following some proven strategies that will get you where you want to be. The hardest part can actually be figuring out what it is that you want. When people are 100% sure about where they want to be in terms of growth, they tend to get there very quickly. It’s when people are conflicted and unsure that trouble and inconsistencies start to arise. So, take up some defensive practices and relax to clear your mind. Then do some creative exploration in order to find out what you want and focus on is until it materializes.