Whenever a difficult situation occurs in our lives, we have a choice. We can either view it as a setback and not go any further, or we can view it as a chance to learn something new and keep going. What you choose determines what happens next. It all depends on the state of mind which you chose to go with.
Maybe you gave something a try and failed terribly at it. Maybe you even put so much faith in yourself, believed in yourself to the fullest, and yet, still didn’t succeed. It happens, it’s life. But what do you do now? Well, you have a choice! You can either call yourself a failure and give up, or you can see where you went wrong, learn from it, and continue to proceed.
The way you feel about every situation that happens in your life depends on the mindset you’re using. Whenever we struggle in our lives, we all have a choice between two different mindsets; the growth mindset and the fixed mindset.
Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset
One with a growth mindset believes that they can always improve with more knowledge and practice. They don’t let anything get in the way of their success. When one has a growth mindset, they continue to move forward no matter what the circumstances are because they only see it as an opportunity to do better. They don’t see failure as a setback, they see it as a way to grow.
When one has a fixed mindset, they believe that they have innate abilities that cannot be changed. They view failure as if they were meant to fail. They believe that if they were to succeed at something, then it should just come naturally to them. For instance, they may believe that they aren’t talented or smart enough to accomplish something, so they don’t pursue it. However, if they do try and fail, they may feel that it wasn’t meant for them. It is not true! It’s because they have a fixed mindset. There is always room for more learning and practice.
If you chose to see your mistakes as a failure, then you may be using a fixed mindset. The good thing though, is that you can make the switch!
Choose the growth mindset. There is always room to grow no matter what the situation, even if you completely fail. If anything, failure is actually a good thing. It is giving you an extra push and more practice to make you even better at what you want to do. So, don’t be afraid of failure, because if you look at it with a growth mindset, you’ll see it as an opportunity to learn more and improve. You always have the choice to move forward. Don’t let failure discourage you. You are the one who gets to determine what step to take next!
You can succeed at anything you desire if you choose to never give up. That is the key to success. You must keep going no matter what. Failure happens to everyone. It’s impossible not to make any mistakes. If you look at failure as an opportunity to learn and grow, then you will do so. If you choose to look at failure as a sign to not go any further, then you may have missed an amazing opportunity that could have been.
Keep moving forward, never give up, and choose the growth mindset.
Just keep going and keep on growing!
Source: Originally posted on Medium by Andrea Howell