Why Changing Your Mind is the Best Thing That Could Happen To You (Plus Tips To Facilitate a Growth Mindset)

When it comes to changing your mind, do you believe it is a bad thing?

In other words, do you think someone changing his or her mind is a sign of indecision or weakness?

There are several reasons why changing your mind might be a good thing.

Everyone has their challenges and insecurities.

As an individual, we all have our vices and weaknesses.

However, regardless of our shortcomings or how difficult life may be at times, the best thing that could happen to us is to change our mindset and adopt a growth mindset.

A growth mindset is a cognitive bias that encourages people to see challenges as opportunities for learning rather than threats that are impenetrable.

It’s the exact opposite of a fixed mindset which leads one to view challenges as flaws in their character rather than the things they can work on to become stronger in the future.

Changing your mind is not easy but it’s worth it because it will positively transform your life.

To help you with this change, let’s take a look at why changing your mind is the best thing to happen to you; plus tips on facilitating a growth mindset in children.

We are always absorbing the environment around us as a child, and we learn to tell ourselves many stories.

Some of us might believe that our siblings are older, wiser, and smarter and that we simply cannot compete with their intelligence.

Others may believe that if they live small, they will be accepted no matter what.

They may believe that being evaluated and judged as being bad or unacceptable is better than being evaluated and judged as being wrong or unacceptable.

Even if we do not set our children's bar too low, we may unintentionally instill a fixed mindset by not encouraging a growth mindset.

We may also negatively affect their growth by, unknowingly, reinforcing that they are set in their ways and prevented from growing.

Labels

It is all too common for us to be identified by certain labels without having any say in the matter.

We may be taught that Johnny is the math genius while Suzy is the musician in the family—a mindset that is more or less set in stone.

Read the catastrophic effects of labeling people and how it affects them for the rest of their life.

You can achieve what you want in academia if you work hard to become that thing.

How is this possible?

You must first recognize that you are capable of changing your mindset before starting the process of changing it.

This is the first step.

You can alter your label at any time and must simply decide to do so.

Next, you must work to achieve your goal. There is no change without effort.

Practices to Take on

You can help your child develop a growth mindset by providing him or her with a route and a means to reach higher goals.

Rather than labeling their lack of proficiency in math as “bad” or “good” in art, you can encourage them to reach higher goals.

· Setting unreasonably high expectations and goals are not beneficial.

· It is imperative not to set the bar too low, otherwise no growth or challenge will be offered.

· The growth mindset is for everyone. Your child must grow as an individual and reach their goals, and offering constructive criticism is one of the ways to show them that they can do so.

· Instead of identifying and judging your pupil or athlete as “not as good as” someone else, it is preferable to motivate them by stimulating their growth by encouraging them or motivating them.

· Instead of focusing on how to improve the team, focus on identifying weaknesses in individual team members and then developing strategies to overcome them.

· Instead of thinking of them as being “as is” in any area, motivate them to reach higher heights by prompting them to think about what they can do.

· The message should be that they are capable of and desirous of working hard to achieve more outstanding results; that they can be stretched to grow.

You have control over whether or not you change your mind about an issue.

If you are trying to avoid something and it is not working, work harder on your strengths and keep learning.

If you have issues in your life, confront them and work on them.

Read our post 3 Controllable Ways to Gain a Growth Mindset which can assist you on the path to a growth mindset.

Conclusion

As you begin to change your mind, you will find that many of your old beliefs will fall away naturally.

You will also realize that if you had spent more time in your child's shoes, you could have avoided many of the pitfalls he or she faced.

It may be difficult at first to accept that you can grow and change; however, it is ultimately worth it.

While you are changing your mindset, you can also improve your relationships with others by becoming more self-aware.

Know what you want and what you can do to get there.