How Do You Think About the Road Ahead?
I look out my window each day to trees turning increasingly brilliant shades of gold, orange and red. I love autumn, and I look forward to it because fall days are never the same, from the colors to the temperatures. Each fall presents different challenges for me — this year it’s what to do with hundreds and hundreds of apples on my trees!
I know others who only see fall as an omen — a warning sign about a cold, snowy and long winter to follow. They worry about how they will get around to the gym or their job or a movie if we have a big snow season. We have such different mindsets about the same time period.
The autumn of your career isn’t that different. Different mindsets hugely impact our outlook and decisions about what’s next.
We All Have Implicit Mindsets
Songs often reflect our feelings and mindset. Frank Sinatra (and Willie and Ray) sang these words
But now the days are short, I’m in the autumn of the year, and now I think of my life as vintage wine from fine old kegs From the brim to the dregs, it poured sweet and clear. It was a very good year.
When you think about leaving your career or business, what songs are playing in your head, not just about the past, but about the future? Is the tune you’re hearing:
- “Those were the days” Are you a bit fearful about the future and looking for something familiar where you’ve already been successful and can show your smarts? Do you see the next step as a time to avoid risks (and maybe embarrassment)?
- “Time keeps on slippin’ into the future. I want to fly like an eagle, to the sea…Fly right into the future” Are you game to learn something new — an experiment in growth?
This musical quiz asks whether we have a ‘fixed’ or ‘growth’ mindset. The songs in our head reflect a mindset that will influence how well we fulfill our ambitions as we transition from autumn to the fourth season of life.
Fixed and Growth Mindsets
Do you ever wonder why some star athletes or musical prodigies or brilliant students fail to live up to their potential? Or ask what made Serena Williams or Michael Jordan or classical violinist Midori the best in their fields? How did their mindsets influence their path and their outcomes? How might your mindset influence yours?
What is a Mindset?
A mindset is a system of beliefs we hold about ourselves, others, and our world. A mindset is malleable though not easily changed. It takes conscious effort and discipline or a significant emotional event to shake them up.
What is a Fixed Mindset?
A fixed mindset is a set of beliefs that our abilities and talents are fixed and about what we can or cannot do with them. Growing up, I was convinced that my math ability was limited. My mother sympathized since she “was never good at math either.” But I was pretty certain that I had other talents such as research and writing. This fixed mindset of can-and-can’t do’s influenced what I attempted — only a semester of basic college math and a deep dive into social sciences. After all, it’s grades that matter for graduate school, said my fixed mindset adviser.
When our teachers and parents also come from a fixed mindset they reinforce our self-image. When we fall short on a task they tell us, “It’s not the end of the world, we aren’t all good at….” If we fail a test, we are supported to avoid that subject or teacher. Fixed mindsets want to manage the challenge to get a result that reinforces what we believe we can do, not take on a challenge and perhaps fail.
So what did researchers find out about prodigies and stars who seemed to fizzle? They held a fixed mindset. They did not take risks where failure was a possibility. They protected their reputations and self-image by playing it safe or coasting.
What is a Growth Mindset?
A growth mindset is a set of beliefs that our talent and ability can be developed with practice, discipline and internal motivation. We may be weak in math, but not because of some innate limitation. We can improve and build strength given tools and a desire to get better. If we have teachers and parents who also hold a growth mindset, they see a poor grade on a test and ask, ”What did you learn about the questions you missed?” If we excel at a challenge, we are praised not because we are innately smart, but because we took on the challenge, prepared, and strived to learn and grow in the process.
Remember the movie Blind Side about Michael Oher, who became a professional football player? With adoptive parents holding a growth mindset, Oher (and his high school teachers and coach) went from holding fixed mindsets and began to hold a growth mindset that he had the talent and ability to grow as an athlete and succeed academically. He built on his abilities through relentless desire, practice, drills, and discipline. His teachers searched for the right tools and methods to foster his development.
Researchers found that great students, athletes or performers achieved their greatness by building and testing abilities and talent; by thousands of hours of practice; by holding a growth mindset that wasn’t about showing their smarts but showing their motivation and drive. Like Oher and the NFL, Alex Honnold didn’t solo climb El Capitan (without ropes!); Midori didn’t get to Carnegie Hall or Woods to the Masters, straight from the womb. It took unrelenting practice, commitment and drive vs. caution and coasting.
Mindsets Tell You What’s Next — or What’s Not
What does all this mean for you in the autumn of your career or business? Simply, take a look at your mindset about what comes next. Do you hear yourself saying “I’ve never been good at not working,” or “It’s too risky to let go,” or “I won’t know who I am if I’m not running my business”?
Or are you saying, “This may be the hardest change I’ve had to manage; how can I take on this challenge to learn what’s possible?”
The first set of questions will lead you to delay moving forward, avoiding the risks, the discomfort, and the threat to your self-image. The second question will open your world to learning and to new levels of satisfaction and self-knowledge, and yes, some frustration.
It’s autumn and a time of transition in nature, but perhaps also in your career journey. Attitude, mindset, and self-talk (that music in our heads), all influence how you plan to use your talent and abilities going forward.
To develop a growth mindset (if you haven’t yet) it takes a growth plan. While it’s autumn, focus on building up capabilities and new learning. Start with the specific situation and in vivid detail outline: what abilities to build upon, how to improve, when and how you’ll practice, and who might support your growth mindset. Imagine the ‘new or improved you.’ That’s the song to play over and over in your head.
What Song Plays in Your Head? Is it Inspiring Growth?