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The One Little Word You Must Add to Your Vocabulary

Welcome to my blog! I plan on delving into topics that revolve around art, life and mindfulness - but who knows where I might end up going!

Just a little introduction to begin. My name is Krista, and I am finally, after over 30 years, realizing my dream of being a full-time artist. I recently retired from public education, so I am now able to devote myself to my own art.

Today I want to look at something called “mindset”. The right mindset is the key to being successful in anything you try to do. There are two different types of mindsets: fixed and growth. Can you guess which is the one to strive for?

I’ve been thinking about mindsets lately because I am transitioning from being a part-time to a full-time artist. What a tremendously steep learning curve I am on!

One of the first things I knew I needed was a website where I could sell my work. Looking around I saw several different site builders that all claimed to be easy.  There was also the option of having one built by a professional, but I didn’t have the funds for that – it can cost from $5000 - $20,000! So, I jumped in and started building my own site; after all, it was supposed to be easy.

For me to move forward and attempt this, I had to have a growth mindset. A growth mindset means that a person understands that even if they don’t know how to do something, they have the ability to learn it.

If I had a fixed mindset, I would have told myself that there is no way for me to learn all that I need to learn and I shouldn’t waste my time. As a teacher, I had to constantly deal with students’ mindsets – and as an art teacher I encountered a lot of fixed mindsets – students that had convinced themselves that they didn’t know how to draw. But hey, isn’t that why you’re in the class?

Basically, fixed mindsets don’t want to stray from their comfort zone. They feel safe where they are and don’t want to attempt anything that they might fail at. Can you see how limiting this is? The only way to grow is to step outside of your comfort zone and try something new, and if you have a fixed mindset this will never happen.

Every innovation known to man was created by someone who had a growth mindset. Growth mindsets allow for vision and are not afraid to take risks, not afraid to fail – because they know that failure is just a step towards success. True failure is never trying in the first place.

I think everyone is born with a growth mindset, otherwise there would still be adults crawling around on the ground too afraid to try to walk! Somewhere along the line the fixed mindset creeps in and attaches itself to some people’s minds. I don’t know why this happens, and the origins of a fixed mindset are not what I’m writing about today (though it would be fascinating to learn more about that if you ask me). I do know that not everyone has a fixed mindset, and some people might have a fixed mindset in some situations and not others.

So, is a fixed mindset fixed? Thankfully, I don’t think it is.

Anytime you are confronting a new situation, and you hear a little voice that says, “I can’t do this”, know that it is your fixed mindset talking – but you don’t have to listen! Your growth mindset is still there, waiting to be acknowledged. All you must do is add one little word to that fixed mindset talk to turn it into a growth mindset statement. That little word is “yet”. That gives you room to grow, room to try, and permission to fail knowing that success will come, it just may not be here yet.

What do you think about mindsets? Let me know in the comments below.

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