9 Ways to Develop a Resilient Growth Mindset
Most people naturally know that going to the gym, running, or working out will have physical benefits. But, not many people understand the benefits of working out your mind. While it’s a lot more popular to hear about mindset than 30 years ago, still…a lot of people don’t know what it means to develop a resilient growth mindset.
If you were going to run a marathon or even a 5k, you’d probably start training, right? Not many people can just get up off the couch and withstand the physical output needed for a race. You already understand that working out is essential to winning or at least finishing the race…but how often do you show up in life without training your mind?
I know that for myself, it was every day until I started really digging into my personal development journey. Now, it is a regular part of my morning routine to work out my mind. This helps improve my self-esteem, and to work towards any long-term goal I have. My hope with this post is to make you aware of how important it is to develop a resilient growth mindset and tips on how to do that.
When I Started Focusing on My Mindset
It wasn’t until I got married, had kids, and became a partner in my family’s business, Ballantine, that I started focusing on my mindset. I was struggling with many areas of my life including how I was responding to challenges and conflict. Moving forward was extremely difficult. I didn’t like the way I was reacting to the things happening in life.
This is when I started to dive more into training. I’m a huge proponent of hiring coaches to help you with different areas of your life. It should serve as an example to us that if superstars like Michael Jordan hired several coaches to refine his skills, then we should as well. My well-being is better off because of it.
What Is a Resilient Growth Mindset?
There are a lot of things that are going to come up in your life that you won’t know how to handle or will be hard for you. Having a resilient mindset will allow you to endure those challenges. You’ll be able to handle the struggles without it crippling you.
A growth mindset is having an active interest in changing as a person and growing. It’s realizing that there is abundance all around you. There is plenty of everything you need in life, whether it is love, money, success, or whatever. When you have a scarcity mindset, you will believe that if other people have money, success, love, etc…you can’t have those things. Plus, and it may not be so immediately obvious, but you won’t have much self-compassion or self-esteem, either.
The truth is, this is not a zero-sum game. There is plenty of business, relationships, and resources for you to have a fulfilling life. But, without a resilient growth mindset, you’ll self-sabotage and limit yourself from reaching your goals.
9 Ways to Work on Your Resilient Mindset
As part of my morning routine, I do things that will help me strengthen my mindset. It sets the tone for my day and helps me face challenges and situations that come up.
Here are 9 ways you can work on your resilient mindset:
1. Become Aware
The first place you have to start with personal development is to become aware. You need to understand what a resilient growth mindset is and why it’s important to develop it. When you are aware, you start to look for ways to approve it. Our minds are trained to do that. Just like when you get a new car…you suddenly see that same vehicle everywhere. I just recently got a new white jeep, and now I see people driving it all over the place. It’s the same thing with anything you become aware of, you’ll start seeing it everywhere.
2. Getting a Coach
Find a coach that works specifically on mindset. For example, I interviewed mindset and habit coach, Mike Pietrzak, on the Morning Upgrade Podcast and he talked about how important it is to work on the way you think. If you have a fixed mindset, it will be hard to improve your skills. It’s important to either have a 1-on-1 session or get into group coaching with someone that can guide you. Like I said, if Michael Jordan has multiple coaches, why do we think we don’t need one?
3. Consume Content on Mindset
We live in an age where there is so much content to read or listen to. There are newsletters, YouTube channels, courses, physical books, eBooks, etc. You can pick and choose who resonates with you. There’s no excuse to not read about mindset or learn more about it. It’s just a lack of effort and priorities. It’s this way with anything you are working on in your personal development….there are available resources and these should be a part of your life. I encourage you to make learning more about mindset a regular part of your daily habit.
4. Meditation
Every morning during my morning routine, I spend time meditating. This is important because it allows you to learn how to control your mind. When thoughts come into your mind, you will learn to push them out and focus on your breath. This comes in handy in your day-to-day as you experience stressful situations or things you can’t control.
5. Breathwork
Controlling your breath helps you in times of anxiety, pain, and stressful situations. Good breath work will calm down your mind. There’s a reason that women learn how to do this in Lamaze classes before giving birth. It’s teaching them to focus on something other than the pain they are experiencing.
I joined a mastermind group called, the Alliance, which is led by Conner Beaton. They do 5 minutes of breathwork at the beginning of every Zoom call. It’s a great practice to do on your own or with other people.
6. Push Yourself Out of Your Comfort Zone
In order to grow, you have to dig deep and push yourself outside of your comfort zone. It’s impossible for your mindset to change if you stay comfortable. Yes, you can consume content all day long about learning new ways of thinking…but getting outside of your safe place is where you can put that education into practice.
Going through new things is not easy. Also, doing things you don’t want to do is not easy. That’s why I took cold showers for 12 months to challenge myself. It’s a common technique amongst personal development circles. The idea is that you are pushing yourself to do something you don’t really want to do. When I took cold showers, I would do 75% of the shower with lukewarm water and then flip it all the way to cold. Every time, my mind would say, “I don’t want to do this”, but I’d push past it. I felt accomplished because I overcame what my mind was telling me not to do….which has obviously been a good habit to develop in life.
7. Start to Notice Your Thoughts And Feelings
When working on your resilient mindset, notice what your mind is saying to you. Notice your thoughts and feelings. Even when you have uncomfortable, anxious, or angry feelings, pay attention to them. Have compassion for your feelings like if you were taking care of a child that had a nightmare. You wouldn’t yell at them for having a bad dream. Instead, you’d show compassion towards them and comfort them. But at the same time, you wouldn’t let the nightmare consume them.
I learned from Bryan Adler from Start From Zero, that when you notice the feelings and thoughts you are having, you can move on from them faster. If you ignore them, they will only grow louder and eventually cripple you.
8. Mastermind
It’s important to get around like-minded people that have a growth mindset. That’s why I joined the Iron Sharpens Iron Mastermind and the Alliance. These masterminds are full of men with a growth mindset and it has been an important part of my mindset development.
9. Gratitude Practice
Gratitude practice will help you to see the world differently. You train your mind to look for the good in the world. I write down three things I’m thankful for every morning as part of my routine. It’s helped to re-wire my brain to look for the positive things in life. I also have my kids tell me one thing they are grateful for every night at bedtime.
I hope that these tips will help you to develop a resilient growth mindset!
Key Takeaways:
- Become aware of what a resilient growth mindset is.
- Learn more about mindset through reading.
- Focus on your breath and meditation every day.
- Join a Mastermind or group of like-minded people.
- Practice gratitude every day.
- Hire a coach.