Mindset: Only Available in Two Flavors

What is mindset? 

Mindset is a choice. 

Mindset comes in two flavors: Growth and Closed. 

According to Carol Dweck, Professor at Stanford University, Mindset is a belief determined by a mental attitude, inclination or habit. 

It all starts with a thought that is supported by observations or experiences. 

With a closed Mindset, one does not venture out of their comfort zone for fear of psychological pain. 

A closed Mindset has learned over time that it is too painful to attempt an action because of fear of failure. 

The growth mind set has learned that failure is an experience to learn from and that progress comes from new or different experiences. 

I remember when I was doing terrible in school because of a closed Mindset.

Unfortunately for me, the educational system is based on a pass or fail.  

There are degrees of passing but only one degree of fail.  

When I fell behind on my studies, it was difficult to face a teacher and ask for help because I didn't want to subject myself to negative comments or rejection.  

My Mindset changed when I applied to enlist in the US Navy. I was told I needed a high school diploma to enlist, but I didn't have one.  

When I asked if there was any other way, the recruiter said I could join with a GED, General Equivalency Diploma.  

I got excited and I went down to the County Educational Office and applied for my GED.  

I took all five of the tests that afternoon and by some miracle passed them all and was awarded a GED.  

What happened was that my Mindset shifted into growth mode because the element of pain was gone.  

You see, if I would've failed any of those tests, I could have taken them again, a "do over".  

This allowed me to venture out and risk failing because I could have a "do over" with more experience.  

Looking back on it now, I realized that a closed Mindset believes there are no "do overs" and a growth Mindset believes there are "do overs".

How much further could we go in life with a growth mindset? 

It all starts with a thought that becomes a belief because it is supported by experiences and observation.  

There is another nervous system mechanism that supports either mindset, the reticular activating system, RAS.  

The RAS is the attention center of your brain and it tends to believe whatever messages you send it because it cannot distinguish between real and synthetic events.  

So, when you have a thought, you set your RAS to pay attention to things that will support that thought.  

Most have heard of Tony Robbins, and one of his core teachings is the quality of questions we ask ourselves.  

Imagine asking yourself, "Why am I so scared?"  

The RAS kicks in and starts noticing things that support and answer "why you’re scared".  

Isn’t it interesting that we can change our thoughts and activate our RAS leading to a belief?  

So, at the end of the day mindset—growth or closed—is a set of beliefs that started as thoughts, which means we can choose the mindset that we have.  

Or as the late Wayne Dyer put it—

"If you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change"  

  In my next message, PS. Mindset is such a crucial and foundational topic that it comes up everywhere!  

In case you missed it, everyone who subscribes to these messages has access to my Pure Profits Training video and guide.  

Check it out around the 16-minute mark for more about "vision" and a story of a single mother-of-three who left behind her low-wage job for a $50/hr "job"—all thanks to a few simple mindset tweaks.  

.  

If you are a small business owner or an executive and are interested in increasing your success go to my website for a free video and the Pure Profit Formula sheet. You will learn how knowing your breakeven point will ease you into a growth mindset.  

Share This Article