Is your glass half full or half empty?
I have always had a tendency to see the good or the positive in a person or situation. Not really sure why or where it came from, but I know it has served me well.
When we find ourselves in tricky situations, wondering why or what we did to deserve this, or feeling like things always happen to us, then changing our mindset will help!
Some of us have a Closed Mindset, we feel like everything that is possible is already out there, destiny is set, and we have no power to change it. In contrast, some of us have a Growth Mindset which means we can reframe or look for alternatives.
We have a Growth Mindset if we believe that there are new and different ways to see and experience things. If we believe that everything is set, and why bother trying to fight it, we probably have a Closed Mindset.
The benefits of having a Growth Mindset are the ability to keep going when things get tough, to be resilient and positive, and to deal with stress in a more productive way.
Having a Closed Mindset tends to make us feel like there is no way out when things go wrong, that fear of failure prevents us from taking action when, in fact, failure can help us learn and grow. We learn more from making mistakes, than we do from always getting things right.
Studies suggest that try, try and trying again is more effect in increasing performance, if we get things wrong the first two times, we learn what didn’t work and then change things, adapt and look for options. If we always get things right, then there is no room for growth. Think about how many tries it took to invent the lightbulb? Quite a few before he had his moment..!
Here are some ways we can develop a Growth Mindset:
Change our language patterns:
The words we use, either out loud or in our head become the focus for our brain, if we tell ourselves, we can’t do something, then guess what? We are probably right!
Reframe the context or the meaning of a situation:
If we have a head-strong child who wants to be independent, thinking about how amazing they will be as a strong independent adult can help us see the positive in what could be a challenging situation right now.
Ask great questions:
Even when we think we know, we may not know, so ask! We all make assumptions about people or situations, but how much more could we learn if we ask for clarity?
Look for alternatives and options:
There is more than one way to bake a cake! Just because we have always done something one way, doesn’t mean there aren’t alternative ways to do it. We should always check out alternative options, ask others for ideas, and use our imagination.
If our glass is still half empty, then there is probably room for more!
To find out more about a Growth Mindset you should read the book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, by Carol Dweck or ask me about my Growth Mindset workshop.
In the meantime... go fill that glass and let me know how it feels to have your glass filled all the way to the top?
Send me an email or use the form at the bottom of this page to get in touch.
I'd love to hear your story!
Thanks for reading, I hope this has given you some things to think about and you have some of your own Lightbulb Moments.
I'd love to hear about them.
If you would like some help experiencing them, I'd love to help.
Please share this with anyone you know who loves experiencing Lightbulb Moments.
Enjoy the Ping!
Viki Johnston