A Growth Mindset for the New Year

As the New Year approaches, you may be thinking about what you want for the coming year, what goals you want to achieve, and what personal changes you want to make in your life. 

The New Year is a time of change, transformation, perfect for a fresh new start. Maybe you’re looking for personal growth, but don’t know what exactly it is or how to achieve it.

 Let’s go over what defines personal growth and how to succeed at it.

What Is Personal Growth?

Personal growth is all about improving yourself, your habits, behavior, knowledge, skills, or personal qualities in order to reach your full potential. To that end, personal growth is also referred to as personal development or self-growth. 

 Why Is Personal Growth Important?

Personal growth is an essential part of life. It helps you develop emotionally, psychologically and physically, so that you become a healthier individual.  This can show up as becoming a better friend, partner, parent, or communicator.

Personal growth is also important because you can overcome negative thoughts, or emotions, and bypass procrastination, which can open up new opportunities for you. But personal growth starts with your mindset; the right mindset can help you reach your highest level of potential.  

There are two mindsets that most people have, which tend to govern their behavior: a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.

 Fixed Mindset

Those with a fixed mindset assume their traits and characteristics are set in stone and they cannot change them. These people may believe that they are skilled or intelligent, and will strive to remain that way, giving up and possibly getting angry at the first sign of failure. Or, they may be convinced they are unworthy or unable to achieve more so they don’t try or try and give up when they encounter obstacles to growth.

 When you have a fixed mindset, you may try new things and fail. At first you may think, “I can’t do it,’” or “I give up, I’m no good at this,’” or “This is too hard.”  But this way of thinking will keep you stuck; it doesn’t lead to growth.

 Growth Mindset

Instead of falling into this thought pattern, aim to realign the negative thoughts into a growth mindset, which helps you move forward. Having a growth mindset involves seeing effort and hard work as keys to your desired outcomes.  Fixed traits and abilities matter less than effort and persistence.  From a growth mindset, failure is an opportunity to learn; it gives you information you can use to do improve your efforts.

 The best way to shift your mindset for personal growth is to accept that things may not always be perfect the first time, or go your way. Failing at something is not a weakness. If you try other solutions and methods, you can overcome your obstacles and learn new things in the process. 

It is also important to remember that life is a learning curve. There is no quick fix and you may have to try repeatedly to learn a new skill or gain the experience you are looking for. You may feel discouraged, but remind yourself that change is a slow process. 

 Another tip to cultivate a growth mindset is to focus on the experience itself, rather than just getting to the end result. As a society, we are so focused on the destination, we often miss out on the journey. You may not be good at everything and that is fine. Give yourself credit for how hard you’re working at change, how much you’re stretching yourself and growing as a person in the process. There’s so much value in that.

 Finally, one of the most important ways to develop a growth mindset is to take control of your self-talk.  Pay attention especially to what you say to yourself about the process of growth and about failure.  This can make or break the process. Use self-talk that cultivates a growth mindset, “I’ll try it a different way,” or “I’ll keep practicing until I get it right.” When you fail, ask yourself, “What did I learn from that, that I can use the next time around?

 Whatever you focus on changing in the New Year, whether it’s as small as integrating a mindful minute into your day or as big as becoming a better partner, we encourage you to take a growth mindset and to be patient and compassionate with yourself as you work at your goal.

Chanderbhan Psychological Services

About: Chanderbhan Psychological Services is a therapy practice located in Laredo, Texas.  As we head into the New Year, we at Chanderbhan Psychological Services wish you a year filled with love, connection, hope and contentment.  To read blogs on mental health and relationships, visit our website.