You’ve reached the final week of the challenge, but really, gaining a growth mindset doesn’t happen in a month.  It’s a lifelong process.

“You don’t get a growth mindset by proclamation. You move toward it by taking a journey” (page 217, Carol Dweck’s “Mindset”).

We were going to go into more detail about the parenting, teachers and coaching parts of the “Mindset” book, but really, those sections could be separate challenges unto themselves.  They’re can feel a bit redundant, though still super-important to read.  No doubt, you’ve been impacted by someone of influence in your life for better or for worse and those memories can turn into stories we tell ourselves.

These stories are often inaccurate.

For the final part of this challenge, we decided to focus on addressing your fixed mindset along with those crummy, unhealthy stories.

Set yourself up for growth well after the challenge ends by reading the rest of the book and then working through the final printable.

Carol writes, “…I’ve talked as though some people have a fixed mindset and others have a growth mindset, in truth we’re a mixture of the two. ..Sometimes we’re in one mindset and sometimes we’re in the other.  Our task then becomes to understand what triggers our fixed mindset.

What are the events or situations that take us to a place judgement rather than a place of development?(page 217-218).

Starting on page 254 of her Mindset book, she breaks gaining this understanding into 4 basic steps.

Step 1:  Embrace your fixed mindset.
This journey has been about changing our mindset so we can change our lives. Having awareness around our thought patterns and how they not only affect us, but those around us can be life-altering.  I love how she mentions to let go of shame around admitting you have a fixed mindset in some areas. Doing this challenge is not to claim that you suddenly have a growth mindset, but that you’re willing to confront your fixed mindset.

Step 2:  Become aware of your fixed mindset triggers.
On page 255 Carol writes about many different triggers and fixed mindset self-talk that results from them. Do you share in any of these triggers and experience similar fixed mindset reactions?
Which triggers resonate with you the most?  Failures, Criticism, Deadlines, Disagreements…

Step 3:  Give your fixed mindset persona a name.
It may sound a bit quirky to you, but naming your persona helps you look at your triggers and responses more objectively.  Look at your journal work over the past few weeks and at what you uncovered in Step 2.  Pages 258 and 259 of the “Mindset” book have examples of fixed mindset personas from one of Carol’s classes.  When you read them, you may identify with some of them.

Step 4:  Take your fixed mindset persona on a journey
Carol writes that once you’re aware of your mindset’s name and its triggers, invite her or him to join you on your quest to learn and do new things.
The more you understand this persona, the more you can anticipate when it’s going to show up and say something ugly.

What can you say back to your persona that will keep you moving forward?  On page 260 Carol gives examples of some growth statements you can use when confronting your fixed mindset:
“Look, I know this may not work out, but I’d really like to take a stab at it.  Can I count on you to bear with me?
“Yes, yes, it’s possible that I’m not good at this (yet!), but I think I have an idea of what to do next.  Let’s just try it.”

If you are willing to have this inner-dialog and to use the Mel Robbin’s 5 Second Rule to just go for it (from Part 3 of this challenge), you can make real headway!

Carol ends her book with a great question on page 263:
When you succeed, don’t forget to ask yourself: What do I have to do to maintain and continue growth?

As you think about where to go from here, read this amazing article by Ramit Sethi about what we encounter when we dare to rewrite our story:
https://growthlab.com/ramits-2018-manifesto-rewriting-your-story/ 
He writes, “…there’s a fine balance between consciously deciding not to do something…and unconsciously following a story that someone else wrote for you.”    

Let’s make a promise to ourselves, right now, that we’ll confront our fixed mindset persona along with all the stories that OTHER people wrote for us and dare to write new ones.

Let’s write stories worth telling.

Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for joining us on this challenge.  If you have any major breakthroughs or “aha!” moments, comment here or on our FB page.

We’d love to celebrate with you!

Graphic created by Tracy Ostwald Kowald at
http://blog.connectionsacademy.com/the-growth-mind-set-how-intelligence-can-change-and-grow/