Are you someone that keeps pushing through obstacles to learn something new?

Do you love challenges because you become smarter because of your perseverance?

Do you take time to learn from a mistake you made?

Do you believe that how smart you are now is not fixed, there is room to grow?

If you answered “yes” to the above, you have a growth mindset.

A growth mindset is the belief that intelligence and abilities can be developed through effort, learning, and persistence, rather than being innate, fixed traits. The idea of a growth mindset was coined by Carol S. Dweck, a Stanford psychologist and author of Mindset.

“Mindsets are powerful, and shifting them can be sudden and transformative,” wrote Dr. Gary Klein, Ph.D.

For someone with a growth mindset, failure is not a shortcoming.  Rather, it is a learning opportunity. People with growth mindsets take ownership of errors and mistakes. They can move on. They are not crippled by failure or tripped up by the fear of failure.

At a 2015 Stanford symposium “Thinking Big About Learning.” Dweck told the audience that, “we are born to learn, to develop our skills, to have an impact on the world,” adding, even at birth, we learn an incredible amount, even more that we ever suspected.

In Dweck’s work as a Stanford psychologist, she researches and studies motivation. She examines the mindsets of people use to understand themselves, guide their behavior and affect their achievement. In her work, she found that students can have different perspectives on their intelligence, talents, and abilities.

When the students are more in a fixed mindset, they think that their talents and abilities are just in a fixed state. They have a certain amount, and that is it. This makes them afraid of learning. They are so worried about looking smart. Whereas, students with a growth mindset push through learning new things even when they get stuck. They persevered. They build resilience.

Dweck commented that after thirty years doing research, she found that the view that you adopt for yourself profoundly affects the way that you lead your life. It can determine whether you become the person that you want to be and whether you accomplish the things you value.

How does a growth mindset help us?

Dave Cordner commente, “A growth mindset helps us learn and grow by keeping us open to new ideas and adaptable to change. It makes us more resilient, so we can push through tough times and see challenges as chances to improve, which lowers our stress.”

Here are some other benefits of a growth mindset:

• Boosts critical thinking skills.
• Encourages creativity and new ways of thinking.
• Leads to better personal performance.
• Inspires others towards leadership and mentorship.
• Creates a supportive and collaborative environment.

Kyla Haimovitz, Director of education technology at Digital Promise Global and David Yeager, an associate professor of psychology at the University of Texas at Austin co-wrote “Growth Mindset: Believing you can improve your abilities.”  You can encourage this mindset in others.

• Model it. Share stories of how you fell short and what you learned.
• Celebrate it. Praise the process of learning, effort, and tenacity to stick with a problem.
• Enable it. Create opportunities to gain experience. Help others set a stretch goal for themselves.

Use the power of “yet,” noted Dweck. Through a growth mindset, you can challenge yourself to learn new things, increase your knowledge, build new skills, and develop resilience. Reframe the challenge by using the word “yet,” as it leaves room for possibility. You can move around obstacles and move forward after setbacks.

The time is now. Ask yourself, ”Where in my life could you use a growth mindset?”

The language that we use with ourselves has power. Use language that is supportive. “I am not good at math, yet,” “I am trying,” “I am learning,” or “I am practicing.”

As author Louisa May Alcott eloquently wrote, “I’m not afraid of storms, for I’m learning how to sail my ship.”

Resources:

Image by pch. vector on Freepik. Retrieved on 3/23/2026 from https://www.freepik.com/free-vector/creative-characters-putting-idea-bulbs-into-huge-head_18733439.htm

Cherry, MSED, Kendra. “What is Perception? Recognizing Environmental Stimuli Through the Five Senses.” 11/9/2025. Retrieved from https://www.verywellmind.com/perception-and-the-perceptual-process-2795839

Cordner, Dave. “How to Develop a Growth Mindset.” Video. 8/9/2024. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lwuJ8Kj7hFg

Coursera Staff. “What is a Growth Mindset?”11/3/2025. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.coursera.org/articles/growth-mindset

Dweck, Ph.D., Carol S. Mindset: The New Psychology of Success: How We Can Learn to Fulfill Our Potential. Ballentine Books, NY. ©2006.

Dweck, Ph.D. Carol S. “Developing a Growth Mindset with Carol Dweck.” Video. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hiiEeMN7vbQ

Dweck, Ph.D., Carol S. “Teaching a Growth Mindset-Carol Dweck.” Video. 11/3/20215. Retrieved on 3/22/2026 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=isHM1rEd3GE&t=7s

EFA Employee & Family Resources. “The Power of Mindset: 8 Ways to Cultivate a Growth Mindset.” Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://efr.org/blog/the-power-of-mindset-8-ways-to-cultivate-a-growth-mindset/

Fain, Lisa Z. “A Tale of Three Mindsets.” 5/11/2021. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.centerformentoring.com/a-tale-of-the-three-mindsets#:~

Haimovitz, Kyla and David Yeager. Character Lab. “Growth Mindset: Believing You Can Improve Your Abilities.” Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://characterlab.org/playbooks/growth-mindset/

Huberman, Andrew. “How Feedback Affects Performance-Andrew Huberman-Growth Mindset.”  After Skool. 5/28/2024. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V9ewjjzAlRs

Khan Academy. “LearnStorm Growth Mindset: The Truth About Your Brain.” Video. 8/10/2018. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rf8FX2sI3gU

Klein, Ph.D. Gary. “Mindsets: What are they and why they matter.” 5/1/2016. Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/seeing-what-others-dont/201605/mindsets

Renaissance Learning. “What is a growth mindset?” Retrieved on 3/7/2026 from https://www.renaissance.com/edword/growth-mindset/