{"id":10711,"date":"2019-03-14T06:00:31","date_gmt":"2019-03-14T10:00:31","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/?p=10711"},"modified":"2019-03-14T06:02:54","modified_gmt":"2019-03-14T10:02:54","slug":"fixed-growth-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/03\/fixed-growth-mindset.html","title":{"rendered":"Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-10712\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-media.beliefnet.com\/sites\/258\/2019\/03\/traffic-sign-108779_1920-300x225.jpg\" alt=\"traffic-sign-108779_1920\" width=\"300\" height=\"225\" \/>Jenna decided to quit her job because she disliked her boss and the company. But shortly after she quit, she couldn\u2019t stop blaming herself for a poor decision. Every night, she ruminated on the mistake she made. How could she have been so wrong? After all, she wasn\u2019t that talented. She would never get an opportunity like that again. What was wrong with her?<\/p>\n<p>We all make mistakes, right? But how we respond to those mistakes is a clue as to the type of mindset we have. A mindset consists of our beliefs and how they influence the way we handle life issues. Think of a mindset like an orientation to how you think and approach life challenges. Do you measure success by talent and fixed traits? Or do you measure success by learning and growing?<\/p>\n<p>If you believe that the qualities that lead to success are fixed and a result of in born abilities and talents, you have a fixed mindset. People with fixed mindsets doubt themselves when they fail. They need constant approval and evaluate challenges through the lens of being a winner or loser. They avoid situations that make them uncomfortable, refuse to think they can change and stay stuck in negative patterns with other people.<\/p>\n<p>A person with a growth mindset believes in change, growth and resiliency. \u00a0In born abilities can be developed but they don\u2019t determine success. Hard work pays off. Failure is a learning opportunity to show them what they need to do better. Anything, good or bad, can be used to teach. People with a growth mindset persevere with setbacks and don\u2019t give up.<\/p>\n<p>If Jenna had a growth mindset, she might think. This boss is really difficult, but what can I learn from this situation? Can I grow and find ways to get along with him better? I need to give the job time and focus on ways to contribute and perhaps make the company better. There are probably things I can do to improve even if this isn\u2019t my dream job.<\/p>\n<p>So, take a few moments and do a little self-reflection. How did you handle problems this week? Did you get defensive or accept feedback? Are you cultivating grit and not allowing failure to define you? Or are you defeated and discouraged because of setbacks? Can you create goals that keep you motivated and interested in new things? Basically, are you ready to grow in whatever circumstance you encounter? If you approach life with the idea that problems create opportunities to grow and learn, you have a growth mindset.<\/p>\n<p>And consider this, having a fixed mindset is not consistent with Scripture. The idea that we can\u2019t change and grow stands in direct contrast to the power of the gospel to transform our life.<\/p>\n<p>Spiritually, growth comes when we humble ourselves and recognizing the power of God in us to change us. The gospel is all about change and molding us to be more like Christ. In this life, we will have troubles. But how we respond to those troubles can create growth.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Jenna decided to quit her job because she disliked her boss and the company. But shortly after she quit, she couldn\u2019t stop blaming herself for a poor decision. Every night, she ruminated on the mistake she made. How could she have been so wrong? After all, she wasn\u2019t that talented. She would never get an&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":419,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[925],"tags":[4376,4378,4375,3282,4377,4379,3721],"class_list":["post-10711","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-mintle-mentions","tag-fixed-mindset","tag-grit","tag-growth-mindset","tag-learning","tag-mindset","tag-overcomer","tag-perseverance"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/03\/fixed-growth-mindset.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Jenna decided to quit her job because she disliked her boss and the company. But shortly after she quit, she couldn\u2019t stop blaming herself for a poor decision. Every night, she ruminated on the mistake she made. How could she have been so wrong? After all, she wasn\u2019t that talented. She would never get an&hellip;\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/03\/fixed-growth-mindset.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Doing Life Together\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:author\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2019-03-14T10:00:31+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2019-03-14T10:02:54+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/files\/2019\/03\/traffic-sign-108779_1920-300x225.jpg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Linda Mintle\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@drlindamintle\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/2019\/03\/fixed-growth-mindset.html","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Do You Have a Fixed or Growth Mindset?","og_description":"Jenna decided to quit her job because she disliked her boss and the company. But shortly after she quit, she couldn\u2019t stop blaming herself for a poor decision. Every night, she ruminated on the mistake she made. How could she have been so wrong? After all, she wasn\u2019t that talented. 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Dr. Linda\u2019s fun personality and expertise comes through whether she\u2019s helping her audience stress less or make peace with their thighs! Dr. Linda has her Ph.D. in Urban Health and Clinical Psychology and is a national expert on mental health. She has specialized in the treatment of eating disorders, anxiety, depression and pain management. With 30 years of clinical experience working with couples, families and individuals, she brings her common-sense approach to people who want to live in positive mental health. Dr. Linda is also a bestselling author with 21 book titles to her credit, a radio host of the Dr. Linda Mintle show, professor, national speaker, winner of the Mom\u2019s Choice Award, a national news consultant, featured writer for Beliefnet and hosts her own website. Her academic appointments keep her abreast of current research in her areas of expertise. Her media experience includes seven years as the resident expert for ABC Family\u2019s Living the Life television show and regular appearances on network television and radio. It is often said that being with Dr. Linda is like having coffee with a friend. She makes the complicated issues of relationships and mental health easy to understand and applicable to everyday living. The ease she has with people, coupled with her clinical training and experience makes her a sought-after speaker on college campuses, conferences and special events. Whether she is doing a TV skit with Tim Conway or discussing teen violence with Queen Latifa, Dr. Linda will entertain, educate and integrate faith and mental health in everyday living. Check out her latest book Hope and Healing for Anxiety, a whole-person approach to eliminate anxiety. .","sameAs":["https:\/\/drlindamintle.com\/","https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/drlindamintle\/","https:\/\/x.com\/drlindamintle"],"url":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/author\/lmintle"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10711","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/419"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=10711"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10711\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10713,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10711\/revisions\/10713"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=10711"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=10711"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/doinglifetogether\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=10711"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}