Have Positive Growth Mindset at Work in 2022 with 3 Simple Habits

by nukhba khan

Title image with caption growth mindset at work

WHY POSITIVE GROWTH MINDSET IS IMPORTANT

A positive growth mindset is when you believe that your skillset and intelligence can be developed. You know that you can build abilities with time, effort, and practice. And your success depends on this constant SELF-DEVELOPMENT.

On the other hand, the opposite thinking is that you are who you are, with both positive and negative traits that are largely fixed. While you may not deny the value of training and education to develop your skillset, it often feels impossible for you.

Let me give you a real-life example to explain the impact these two types of thinking can have on your life.

I was never comfortable giving presentations at work or any public speaking. It was the most nerve-racking ordeal. I saw my colleagues comfortably deliver presentations with confidence and calm that you could feel their impactful energy in the room. I wanted to be just like them. But I believed that it was impossible for me.

I made excuses that these ‘confident’ colleagues were brought up in an environment that nurtured their ability to present confidently. And, for whatever reason, my childhood and schooling did not require me to build this public speaking skill. Now I just had to deal with the repercussions of always being nervous in front of an audience.

The way I was thinking was like a person who clearly did not have a growth mindset. I believed that public speaking was a skill set that either you have or don’t have, and it’s nearly impossible to develop this late in the game.

But if I had a positive growth mindset, I would think differently. I would see public speaking as a talent or a skill that can be developed with effort, persistence, and some mentorship. So, first, I’d realize how important public speaking is for my career progression. And knowing the importance, I would motivate myself to get out of my comfort zone and practice giving presentations at any chance I got to build my public speaking confidence. And finally, learn from each experience to strategize how to be more confident for the next presentation.

Do you see the difference? I believed that not having a certain talent was my fate in the first scenario, and I accepted defeat. Which would mean that throughout my career, I would hate giving presentations. And because public speaking was vital in my career, it meant that I would hate my job.

In the second scenario, with a positive growth mindset, I would see it as an opportunity to learn a new skill important for my work and life and do whatever possible to make it happen.

A positive growth mindset can change your outlook on work and life. Suddenly all the obstacles in life become opportunities for personal development and growth. And, it can give you hope and courage every day to go after your goals and make your dreams possible. Because with a positive growth mindset, you have control, and you decide not only how you think but how you act.

A POSITIVE GROWTH MINDSET EMPOWERS YOU.

Pause to reflect: Is there a specific area in your work-life where you could benefit from having a growth mindset?

HOW TO HAVE POSITIVE MINDSET AT WORK

Now that we know that having a positive growth mindset is key to unlocking your potential for success - let’s discuss 3 simple habits that can help you build a growth mindset

Keep Your Purpose Top of Mind

A growth mindset involves turning obstacles into opportunities, which requires commitment. Commitment to put in the effort and hard work to keep developing, learning, and growing. And that commitment requires motivation. So, where do you find this motivation? To unlock this intrinsic motivation or the inner drive that pushes you to pursue your self-development, you have to understand your big picture purpose. (Not to be confused by external rewards and recognition, which are extrinsic motivators. What you need to find is more intrinsic and personal.)

So to cultivate a growth mindset at work, you first have to define your own personal meaning for the work you do, i.e., why you do the work you do. It has to be more than just getting a paycheck.

Keeping your personal purpose top of mind will help you think with a growth mindset and push yourself to get out of your comfort zone to do the necessary things for your success at work.

Your overarching purpose is highly personal and stems from being of service to others. Your service might be to your family, society, the company and people you are working with, or your service to yourself. Whatever the case may be, it is ultimately how you spread joy to others, yourself, or maybe both?

PAUSE TO REFLECT: Take a moment to think about what you deeply care about and how your work aligns with this personal priority.

Once you have defined your purpose — the drive to be part of something larger than yourself, this then becomes your intrinsic motivation, a tool to self-motivate

But to be intrinsically motivated, you have to continuously remind yourself of your bigger purpose.

HABIT TO ADOPT: Write out your purpose in a place where you can view it every morning before work. This will remind you why you do what you do. This will also help you harness your intrinsic motivation to do what it takes to succeed at work by turning obstacles into opportunities for learning and development.

2. Stop Taking Things Personally at Work

We are emotional creatures. And knowing how to navigate and manage our emotions is critical for our day-to-day well-being, happiness, and productivity.

Now you might be asking what our emotions have to do with our rational and logical growth mindset? The answer is a lot!

We would be fooling ourselves if we thought we have never made decisions based on our emotions. Emotions guide our thinking and behavior and influence our decision-making.

Positive emotions broaden our mindset. When we feel good, we engage and take an interest in our surroundings, pay attention, ask questions, and interact with others in a more open and exploratory manner. Negative emotions, on the other hand, limit our thinking and actions. When we are not feeling good, we are not that engaged, and we are looking for faults and problems in others and defensive when we get challenged.

And if our emotions are a critical driving force behind how we think, behave and act, they can influence our growth mindset.

I want to share an extremely powerful way to raise your emotional awareness and manage your emotions at work. It’s my favorite trick, and it’s potent!

STOP TAKING THINGS PERSONALLY AT WORK.

Our emotions are fueled, influenced, and triggered by what other people do and say at work. Or what they don’t do and say. So essentially, when people don’t behave the way we would like them, we get emotionally charged and riled up.

We think they are behaving this way because, for some reason, they are out to get you, or they just don’t like you (which is triggered by your insecurities).

You have gotta stop thinking that it is all about you!

This other person who said something or did something that you did not like, is a human doing human things.

PAUSE TO REFLECT: How do you react to challenging work situations and conversations? Do you have a tendency to make it personal and get emotionally impacted?

HABIT TO ADOPT: Stop taking things personally. You have gotta start telling yourself that they (your colleagues) are just humans doing human things. It’s got nothing to do with you. That’s just who they are and what they do. It’s not personal.

If you can do this, you will notice a dramatic reduction of your negative emotions that hinder your growth mindset. You will adopt a more positive outlook that pushes you to feel in control and fuel you to turn your obstacles into opportunities for growth.

3. Gravitate towards people who have a growth mindset

And finally, it is essential to surround yourself with people who demonstrate a growth mindset. These folks are committed to learning, eager to experiment, and not afraid to take risks. When you hang out with people vested in their self-development, it will inspire you to follow suit.

On the other hand, when we spend time with people who are always complaining and finding faults in people and systems - they instill a feeling of hopelessness. You become passive, believing that things are outside of your control. I.e., the opposite of a growth mindset.

PAUSE TO REFLECT: Take a moment to think about the people you hang out with at work. Do they inspire you to learn, grow, take the initiative, or are they perpetually nagging about work and people?

HABIT TO ADOPT: Make it a habit to seek out colleagues that inspire you.

FINAL THOUGHTS: POSITIVE MINDSET TO START THE DAY

To summarize, a growth mindset is all about seeing your challenges as opportunities for growth and self-development. This means that a growth mindset is not just a way of thinking but a way of acting and reacting to external problems.

The three habits that will propel you to instill this growth mindset are:

Keep your intrinsic motivator top of mind. Why? Because this will motivate you to find a way to push through difficult times by finding solutions to keep moving forward to fulfill your big picture purpose.
Don’t take things personally at work. Why? Because when you are feeling the ‘feel-good’ emotions, you are tapped in, tuned in to be bold and creative to find a way through the obstacles.
Hang out with people with a growth mindset. Why? Because observing their drive and resiliency will inspire you to think similarly - pushing your boundaries to take risks and experiment, and your growth will inevitably follow.

And lastly, I cannot emphasize enough, start your day right. Start the day by fueling yourself with the drive, motivation, and inspiration that you have what it takes to get through any and every challenge that comes your way. And you are not afraid to get out of your comfort zone and make mistakes. Because by doing so, you have a greater likelihood of getting the results you are looking for in your life.

P.S. Want to learn a really cool step-by-step method to better control your feelings and emotions at work? And finally, stop letting external things, people, events, situations dictate how you feel?

👇Download👇the free guide: 5-Step Guide to Becoming a Happier You at Work

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