Shhh… What Sneaky Growth Strategies Do Stealthy Power Players Secretly Use?
What kinds of growth thinking have those people who quietly become powerful mastered?
Have you also discovered these two phenomena in your life?
The first:
When children learn to walk, speak, and climb, they are not afraid of falling or saying the wrong thing. Even if they fall and say the wrong thing, they will keep practicing until they can do it well, and then continue to practice and control other abilities... But many adults seem to lose this ability as they grow up.
The second type:
People who were originally at the same level gradually widened the gap over time. Some people became experts in a certain industry, while others remained ordinary.
There are two modes of thinking in these two phenomena, and the root cause of the differences between people is different thinking. Carol Dweck, a professor at Stanford University in the United States, proposed in her book “Lifelong Growth”: There are two types of people’s thinking patterns, one is fixed thinking and the other is growth thinking. In fact, both ways of thinking are the way and attitude a person views himself.
01 The difference between people with a fixed mindset and a growth mindset
The first type is people with a fixed mindset
It is often believed that intelligence level is almost innate, and acquired efforts will not change much, believing in fatalism. When encountering difficulties and mistakes, you always look for excuses to escape. You are afraid of not performing well and give up on what you want to do. You have a negative attitude and only focus on the difficulties and failures in front of you. You have a glassy heart. When you encounter challenges, you feel that you are facing a disaster. It is a kind of rigid thinking to often give yourself back and stop moving forward.
The second type is people with a growth mindset
People with a growth mindset usually believe that diligence can make up for their shortcomings and that they can make progress. Through hard work, they can change the status quo and even change their destiny. They dare to move forward and face difficulties and challenges. They become more courageous with every setback. They are focused, persistent, progressive, resilient, and have clear goals. , has a belief in success, a strong internal drive, and an optimistic and progressive thought.
I used to be a person with a fixed mindset. I always wanted to prove myself. I was very fragile inside. I would shrink back when encountering some difficulties. I would often get entangled. If I failed once, I would think that I had no talent and I was destined to never be good in this field in the future. Even if you are successful, you often feel like you have encountered something big, and you are in a bad mood. You often fall into a self-denial mood that is difficult to escape, and you blame yourself endlessly.
It wasn’t until I heard Professor Dweck mention growth mindset in his TED talk “Please believe you can make progress”, and then read her book “Lifelong Growth” that I found the root cause. So I decided to cultivate and train my growth mindset.
02 Why should we cultivate our growth mindset?
First of all, a growth mindset is the internal motivation to actively develop oneself and is a strong belief. People with a growth mindset believe that intelligence and abilities can be changed, cultivated, and molded, dare to face setbacks, are good at self-management, believe in the power of hard work, and believe that they can do better through their efforts.
Shakespeare said: Adversity can test a person’s character, and extraordinary circumstances can reveal extraordinary integrity. When the iron fist of fate hits the vital point, only the brave and wise can deal with it calmly.
People’s abilities can be changed through hard work. I believe in the power of belief, but not many people believe it, which further shows the importance of growth thinking. People with this kind of thinking dare to do things they have never done before and keep growing; they dare to do things they don’t want to do and keep changing; they dare to do things they dare not do and keep making breakthroughs.
Secondly, a growth mindset is a spirit that is ambitious, optimistic, tenacious, and future-oriented. It can always face specific objects, tasks, and their results from a dynamic perspective and a positive level. These people have clear goals, do not follow the crowd, dare to pursue their dreams, and can be optimistic about the difficulties they encounter.
Thirdly, a growth mindset is a passion for taking on responsibilities, continuous improvement, and a spirit of not admitting defeat.
Leo Tolstoy said: If a person does not have enthusiasm, he will achieve nothing, and the basis of enthusiasm is responsibility.
People with a growth mindset believe that they can take on the responsibilities that others can take on, and they can take on the responsibilities that others cannot take on, to hone themselves into a higher realm.
03 How to say “no” to fixed thinking?
Now you have realized that a growth mindset can help us go longer and further, so how do many people with a fixed mindset transform into a growth mindset? Change is hard to come by, but as long as you are willing, there is always a way to change. Professor Dweck gave four steps: accept, observe, name, and educate.
First, accept it. First of all, accept that you have more or less fixed thinking. This is the first step and a necessary condition. Only by accepting it can you have the possibility of change. Remember, if people don’t set limits for themselves, they can’t stop you. Obstacles to play.
For example: Before I signed up for the Zhizuoluo Advanced Writing Training Camp, I was very nervous. I was worried that I would not be able to pass the review, that I would not be able to complete the assignments, that I would not be able to arrange time for daily study, and I almost wanted to give up this opportunity. At this time, I immediately noticed my fixed thinking and told myself that determination is the most important thing. If you make up your mind to do something, there will be a way. Now that the training camp has started for ten days, I have completed my homework very well and I can feel my progress.
Second, observe. You should always remind yourself not to return to a fixed mindset, and deliberately practice using a growth mindset to treat people and things. Always be aware of yourself, where you tend to have fixed thoughts and delve into the reasons.
For example, when I was learning to drive, I made an appointment with a few friends to learn to drive together, and I was responsible for finding a good driving school. When I found it, my friends told me that I am too busy now, why not study when I have more time? I was also affected and thought about not waiting any longer since I haven’t bought a car yet. But I immediately told myself that I couldn’t wait any longer, maybe I would be busier in the future, so I decisively decided to sign up for the course immediately. Finally, I got my driver’s license in two months, and now I have four years of driving experience. As far as I know, my few A friend of mine has not learned to drive yet.
Therefore, you should always be aware of yourself, and why you think this way, and then remind yourself to look at it from a different angle and think about it.
Third, name it. You can name a fixed mindset as an item, person, or thing you don’t like. For example, I don’t like that there are always people who like to pour cold water on me, so I name such people “Brother Cold Water” so that I can always remind myself not to be restricted.
Fourth, is education. I think this is the most critical point, education is self-education. First of all, don’t resist the emergence of fixed thinking, and then know that blindly telling yourself to change your fixed thinking is not necessarily a good idea. It is better to tell yourself to develop these growth mindsets and replace your fixed thinking with progressive thinking.
First, upgrade your cognitive thinking. Look to those who are better than yourself and don’t always stay in your perceptions. Stare at yourself with dynamic eyes and remind yourself. The biggest difference between great people and ordinary people is the difference in cognition.
Why do children from the same family background differ so much in the end? It’s just that they have different ideas and different perceptions. For example, my neighbor has two sons. The couple really wants to send both sons to college, but the eldest son has graduated from junior high school and no longer wants to go to school. They would rather do farm work at home or go out to work. But the second son wanted to go to school. He knew that the only way out for him was to go to school, so he worked hard to take the college entrance examination and was admitted to Fudan University in Shanghai. From then on, the fate of the two brothers changed dramatically.
Secondly, think about iterative goals. I should always remind myself whether I have mastered this skill and whether I have made a breakthrough. If so, then continue to iterate on my goals and continue to learn, rather than staying in the comfort zone of the skills I have already mastered.
But great people will never be satisfied with the results in front of them. They will constantly iterate their goals and improve themselves step by step. Great people have also gone from ordinary people to great people. Great people do not feel complacent because of the little achievements they have achieved, but constantly put forward higher requirements for themselves, so they finally become great people. It’s because great people have the mindset of iterating goals.
Finally, the mindset of excellence. Put an end to the idea of muddling along without asking for a deeper understanding, remind yourself whether you can do better, tell yourself, that since you have done it, do it well, and don’t ask yourself to meet ordinary standards.
In the workplace and in life, many people muddle through things, thinking that they are almost done, following the crowd, and doing things perfunctorily. This will not last long, and they will not gain competitiveness. If you make do with life and work, life and work will abandon you.
As the saying goes: Thoughts determine actions, actions determine habits, habits determine destiny, and differences in thinking will slowly affect this life. Thinking is the key to solving problems. Learning a growth mindset will help you become a better person.
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