Abundant Mind #008

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Read Time: 5 minutes

Have you ever experienced feeling stuck because of a problem or a challenge you experienced?

What were your internal conversations like at the time?

“This is so difficult!”

“I don’t have what it takes.”

“This is impossible.”

Or maybe it was something along the lines of:

“I can do this!”

“I’ll figure this out somehow.”

“What can I learn to overcome this?”

Depending on your internal conversation, you would have either pushed through or you would have thrown in the towel.

What if you can direct your thoughts in a way that would set you up to overcome any challenge or problem?

In today’s newsletter we will explore the difference between fixed and growth mindset and how adopting one or the other affects how you respond to challenges.

Fixed Mindset

Fixed mindset is a term that was coined by American psychologist Carol S. Dweck.

It refers to the belief that our abilities, intelligence, and talents are fixed and cannot be significantly changed or improved.

People with a fixed mindset often easily give up when challenges arise.

Adopting this mindset can lead to a fear of failure, a resistance to taking risks, and a tendency to avoid trials that may challenge current capabilities.

It’s important to understand that a fixed mindset can limit our potential for growth and prevent us from adapting to new circumstances.

I remember when I was in college, all students were required to enroll in the National Service Training Program (NSTP), which is a civic education and defense preparedness program.

Under the NSTP program, we had the choice to enroll in either the Civic Welfare Training Service (CWTS) program or the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) program.

Since I had experienced doing a yearly civic welfare program in highschool which I knew as outreach programs, I wanted to experience something new.

So, I enrolled in the ROTC program.

It was a weekly program that required students to attend every Saturday for an entire trimester.

The officers that led us were hard and strict. They commanded obedience and respect just by how they carried themselves.

At the time, I felt a lot of pressure on those Saturdays.

Every ROTC class, I had a fear of making a mistake that I thought would cause the officers to scold me in front of all my peers.

Towards the middle of the trimester, I wanted to drop the class.

I thought to myself that this wasn’t worth sacrificing my Saturdays for.

I wanted to just relax, play video games, or hang out with friends during the weekends.

At the time I was thinking to myself that I had to wake up extra early on Saturdays just to feel pressure and internal stress whenever I attended ROTC.

One Friday, I told my mom that I wanted to quit and just drop the class because I was having a hard time with ROTC.

It’s a good thing that my mom didn’t allow me to quit. She talked to me about the importance of developing discipline and seeing things through.

She told me about the value of not giving up when things get tough.

And so, even though I didn’t want to, I finished the ROTC program.

I didn’t realize it at the time, but during that exact moment that I wanted to quit, I was adopting a fixed mindset.

And it didn’t serve me one bit.

Had I chosen to quit ROTC and I kept that behavior of mine of quitting when things got tough, I don’t think I would be the person I am today.

Today, I’m thankful that my mom talked me out of dropping the class.

I learned not to give up too easily, and I feel like I’ve developed discipline slowly but surely throughout the years because of that class.

Today, I realize that Identifying and acknowledging a fixed mindset is the first step towards cultivating a growth mindset.

Growth Mindset

Growth Mindset is also a term that was coined by Carol S. Dweck.

It refers to the belief that our abilities and intelligence can be developed through dedication, effort, and a willingness to learn.

This allows us to open ourselves up to new opportunities and possibilities.

People with a growth mindset are those that don’t give up too easily when faced with challenges and problems.

They see these trials as an opportunity for growth, setbacks or failure as learning experiences, and effort as a path to mastery.

This mindset encourages resilience, perseverance, and a willingness to step out of comfort zones in the journey towards fulfilling a person’s ideal vision of their future.

I feel as if my decision to continue and finish that ROTC class was one of the moments of my life where I started to develop a growth mindset.

Finishing that class in spite of me not wanting to was evidence for me that I can see things through.

That I can become the type of person that rises and moves forward despite challenges.

My growth mindset was further developed when I made the decision to enter into life insurance sales as a college fresh graduate.

Some of my peers were surprised at my decision since they mentioned that sales isn’t really in my personality.

But I was determined to learn and develop my sales ability because I knew that it was a necessary skill to learn if I wanted to go into entrepreneurship one day.

My sales career had its own flurry of challenges. From rejections, to missed targets, to low income months.

However these challenges allowed me to learn and grow.

I’m thankful for those challenges because it helped me identify what I needed to improve within myself, whether it’s how I communicated, the mindset I had, or the systems I had in place.

I realized that as I grew myself, my capabilities, and my skills, my income grew along with it.

I started seeing opportunities where my knowledge, skills, and experience could be of use and even further developed.

From sales, I got into personal development coaching, SME business consulting, and leadership workshop facilitating.

Today, I’m grateful because this foundational idea of growth mindset allowed me to experience earning a big paycheck for two months straight in 2022 apart from my regular monthly income because of the work that I did.

That paycheck allowed me to pay for international travels in that year, the engagement ring I used to propose to my wife, and some of the wedding expenses for our church wedding by the end of 2023.

By adopting a growth mindset, we become more motivated, adaptable, and resilient in the face of challenges.

We develop a hunger for knowledge and a thirst for continuous improvement.

If you are an entrepreneur or aspire to be one someday, a growth mindset is a must to develop.

How to Develop a Growth Mindset

Developing a growth mindset starts with awareness of your thoughts and internal conversations.

When faced with a challenge, take a pause and see what your internal dialogue is.

Ask yourself this question to become aware of your thoughts:

“What am I telling myself in relation to this challenge?”

Once you are aware of what you tell yourself, check if this internal dialogue is helping you with this challenge, or if it is holding you back.

Here are some internal conversations you can have to develop a growth mindset. You can tell yourself:

“I can do this if I keep going!”

“What do I need to learn to overcome this?”

“What are my next 5 moves so that I can become better?”

Remember that thoughts lead our actions and actions dictate our results.

Cultivate a growth mindset so that you can further improve and experience the life that you desire.

You deserve it.

Talk soon,

Zach

P.S. Whenever you are ready, there are 3 ways that I can be of help to you:

1. Follow me on Instagram here if you want a source of bite-sized ideas and content that can help you reach your next level in life.

2. Book a free kick-off conversation for one-on-one coaching here if you are an entrepreneur or sales professional currently looking to create solutions to a problem or challenge in your life but you seem to be stuck.

3. Download my goal setting guide here if you are wanting to create clarity on your desired outcomes (Free until 100 downloads — and then I convert it to a paid resource).

P.P.S. If you are from the Philippines and are looking for a personal mastery workshop to help you experience growth and transformation, check out Discovery by I Am Plus Coaching and Training Systems. It’s where my journey of self evolution personally got fast-tracked.