Growth Mindset vs Fixed Mindset: Which Do You Have?

Hey girl!

Let me ask you something real quick. When life gets hard, do you hear, "I always mess this up, why even try," or "This is hard, but I can figure it out"?

That tiny difference in your head changes everything...

I used to think my personality, my discipline, even my "talent" for certain things was just what it was. Good at English, bad at math. Good at talking to a camera, bad at waking up early. End of story. Then I started learning about this thing called a growth mindset, and it snatched my whole perspective.

This is not a lecture. We are not in class. Think of this more like a big sister sit down where we look at your thoughts, laugh at how dramatic your brain can be, and then get serious about building a mindset that actually supports the life you want!

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Understanding Mindset Theory

Before we go into signs and tips, we need to talk about what mindset even means here. Your mindset is the set of beliefs you carry about your abilities, your potential, and how change works for you.

Some people secretly believe, "I am who I am, and that is that." Others believe, "I can grow, learn, and get better at things with effort and time."

Those two groups live very different lives.

Carol Dweck's Research Explained

There is a psychologist named Carol Dweck who studied how people think about their own intelligence and skills. She noticed two main patterns and gave them names:

• Fixed mindset: "My abilities are pretty much set. I am smart or not, talented or not. If I fail, that means I am not good."
• Growth mindset: "My abilities can grow. I can learn from mistakes. If I fail, that means I need a new strategy or more practice."

She saw that kids with a growth mindset handled hard tasks in a totally different way than kids with a fixed mindset. The growth kids treated challenge like a puzzle. The fixed kids treated challenge like a threat.

Read that again. Challenge is either a puzzle or a threat, depending on your mindset.

Once I heard that, so many things in my own life made sense. The times I shut down, the times I pushed through, the times I decided "YouTube just works for me" instead of seeing the years of practicing, editing, and talking to a camera since I was eleven.

Why Mindset Matters for Success

Here is why mindset matters so much. You and someone else can have the same dream, the same talent level, and the same starting point.

Person A has a fixed mindset:

• Gives up after one bad grade
• Takes every "no" as a personal attack
• Avoids new things unless they are instantly good at them

Person B has a growth mindset:

• Treats a bad grade like feedback
• Takes "no" as redirection
• Tries new things and lets themselves be a beginner

Fast forward three years. Person B has moved through way more opportunities since their mind did not tap out every time something felt uncomfortable.

This is where manifestation and mindset connect. If you plan to read my Complete Guide to Manifestation, notice how much of it rests on what you believe about yourself and your ability to grow.

So if you are serious about your glow up, this is not just a cute theory. This is core.

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Fixed Mindset Characteristics

Let us call out the fixed mindset patterns first, so you can spot them in yourself. No shame, just awareness. I still catch these in my own brain sometimes.

Signs You Have a Fixed Mindset

You might lean toward a fixed mindset if:

• You avoid tasks that might expose you as "not good" at something
• You feel embarrassed asking questions, since you want to look smart
• You hear feedback and immediately feel attacked
• You compare yourself to others and assume they were "born that way"
• You say things like "I am just not a math person" or "I am just lazy" like they are permanent facts
• You give up fast when something is not instantly easy
• You feel like your worth drops when you fail

If your brain is screaming "this is literally me," breathe. Seeing it is the first step.

How Fixed Mindset Holds You Back

Fixed mindset thinking is sneaky. It sounds like it is protecting you from embarrassment, while it lowkey steals your potential.

Here is how it blocks you:

• You do not start. You wait until you feel perfectly ready or confident, which never comes, so your ideas stay ideas forever.
• You do not try new strategies. If something does not work the first time, you label yourself a failure instead of changing the method.
• You take things personally. One bad grade turns into "I am dumb." One heartbreak turns into "I am unlovable." One slow month in your business turns into "I am not meant for this."
• You fear being seen trying. You only want to show up for things where you already look talented, so you miss out on entire areas of life that could light you up.

I have experienced this with my gym journey. When I first started lifting, I felt so awkward. Fixed mindset thoughts popped up like, "Everyone here knows what they are doing except me." The growth side of me had to jump in and say, "No girl, they all started somewhere. You are allowed to look new."

That little switch is what keeps you moving.

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Growth Mindset Characteristics

Now let us look at the mindset you are trying to build on purpose.

Signs You Have a Growth Mindset

You show growth mindset patterns when:

• You see challenges as chances to level up
• You get curious after mistakes instead of only feeling shame
• You believe skills can be built through practice
• You feel inspired by someone who is ahead of you, instead of purely jealous
• You say things like "I am still learning" or "I can get better at this"
• You look back on your past self with compassion and pride for how far you came

If some of these feel natural for you already, that is amazing. You are not starting from zero.

How Growth Mindset Accelerates Success

Growth mindset speeds things up, not since life stops being hard, but since you stop quitting every five minutes.

For example:

• A video flops. Fixed mindset: "I fell off, everyone is bored of me." Growth mindset: "Okay, that concept did not land. What can I tweak and try next week?"
• You bomb a test. Fixed mindset: "I am stupid." Growth mindset: "Clearly my study method did not work. I can try a different one and ask for help."
• A relationship ends. Fixed mindset: "No one will ever love me like that." Growth mindset: "That connection taught me what I want and do not want. My standards just leveled up."

Growth mindset does not mean fake positivity. You can still cry, vent, and feel your feelings. You just do not set up camp in the story that you are stuck.

When you pair growth mindset with clear goals, things start moving. If you want help with the goal part, my post Set Goals You'll Achieve walks through how I plan my glow up in a way that actually sticks.

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How to Develop a Growth Mindset

You are not born with one mindset forever. Your brain is very trainable. Let us talk about how you can shift your patterns starting today.

1. Say Yes To Challenges

Next time you feel that "I do not want to try, I might fail" feeling, treat it like a red flag from your fixed mindset. That is your cue to lean in, not run.

Practical ways to say yes:

• Volunteer to present in class, even if your voice shakes
• Try a new workout that looks a little scary
• Post that piece of content you have been overthinking
• Sign up for a class that stretches you

Tell yourself, "I am allowed to be new at this. I am allowed to learn out loud."

2. Learn from Criticism

Criticism hurts. We are not pretending it feels nice. Still, some feedback can help you grow if you filter it right.

When someone gives you feedback, ask yourself:

• Do they care about me or the project?
• Is there any truth in what they said, even if the delivery was messy?
• What can I experiment with next time based on this?

Then separate your identity from the behavior. "I did not do my best on this project" is very different from "I am trash."

If feedback triggers deep shame and self attack, that might point to self esteem work you can do. My post Building Self-Esteem pairs really well with this topic, since your view of your worth affects how you hear any kind of critique.

3. Celebrate Effort, Not Just Results

If you only praise yourself for perfect results, you train your brain to connect worth with performance. That creates anxiety and fear of failure.

Start celebrating:

• The fact that you showed up to study earlier than usual
• The way you kept filming even when the first clips felt awkward
• The way you returned to the gym after a week off
• The way you set up a budget even though money talk makes you nervous

You can still care about results. Just add streaks where you high five yourself for effort, consistency, and courage.

4. Find Inspiration in Others' Success

Jealousy is normal. You are not a villain for feeling it. The secret is what you do with it.

Fixed mindset says, "She has that, so I cannot."
Growth mindset says, "She has that, so it is possible for me too, in my own way."

When you feel that jealous pinch while scrolling:

• Pause your scroll
• Ask, "What does she have that I secretly want?"
• Remind yourself, "If I can see it, I can move toward my version of it."

Use jealousy as information, not a reason to hate.

5. Replace "I Can't" with "I Can't Yet"

That one tiny word shifts your entire story.

Instead of:

• "I cannot stick to a routine."
• "I cannot talk on camera."
• "I cannot make money doing what I love."

Try:

• "I have not stuck to a routine yet."
• "I am still getting comfortable on camera."
• "I have not figured out how to make money doing what I love yet."

Your brain hears "yet" and leaves the door open. That door is where growth walks in.

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Growth Mindset in Different Areas

Mindset touches everything. Let us look at a few parts of life where this shift really shows.

Career and Business

Whether you work a job, run a business, or are still in school, growth mindset changes how you handle progress.

With a fixed mindset, you might:

• Stay in a role you hate since you doubt you can learn a new skill
• Avoid applying for promotions
• Treat every mistake at work like proof you are not smart

With a growth mindset, you might:

• Take on a project that scares you a little so you can build new skills
• Ask "What can I learn here?" when something goes wrong
• See your current job as training for your future, not your final form

If you are into vision boards, scripting, and imagining your future self, pair that with growth mindset work. Manifestation is not just visualizing; it is acting like the version of you who can grow into that life. That is why I love linking growth mindset ideas with the practices in my Complete Guide to Manifestation.

Relationships

Mindset shows up in dating, friendships, family, all of it.

Fixed mindset in relationships sounds like:

• "This is just how I am, I cannot change."
• "This is just how they are, they will never change."
• "I only attract toxic partners, so I guess that is my fate."

Growth mindset in relationships sounds like:

• "I am learning to communicate better."
• "We can work through this if both of us are willing to grow."
• "I can raise my standards and learn from old patterns."

Growth mindset does not mean you stay in harmful situations hoping someone will magically change. It means you believe you can learn, heal, and choose better next time. It means you see conflict as a chance to understand each other more, not as proof the relationship is doomed.

Learning New Skills

This one is the most obvious example, yet people forget it constantly.

Think about how kids learn to walk. They fall hundreds of times. No one says, "Wow, this baby is terrible at walking, let us never try again." Yet grown adults miss one workout, flop one video, fail one test, and decide it is over.

Growth mindset with new skills looks like:

• Being willing to feel awkward
• Letting yourself suck at something in the beginning
• Setting tiny goals so you can stack wins
• Studying your own mistakes instead of hiding from them

If your inner critic screams when you are new at something, self compassion work will help a lot. You can learn gentle inner talk in my post Practice Self-Compassion, which fits perfectly with everything we have talked about here.

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FAQ Section

1. Can you change from fixed to growth mindset?

Yes. You can shift from fixed to growth mindset with awareness and practice. Start by noticing the thoughts that sound very "all or nothing," like "I will never be good at this." Catch those lines and replace them with softer, growth based thoughts such as "I am learning" or "I can get better with time and practice." Over time that new pattern becomes more natural.

2. What's an example of growth mindset?

Here is a simple example. You study for a test, and the grade comes back lower than you wanted. A fixed mindset says, "I am dumb, why did I try." A growth mindset says, "My study method did not work this time. I can ask the teacher for help, change how I study, and try again." The situation is the same, yet the story you tell yourself is different.

3. How do I know if I have a fixed mindset?

You might lean toward a fixed mindset if mistakes feel like a personal failure, if you avoid new things unless you already feel confident, or if you give up easily when you hit resistance. Listen for phrases like "I am just not that type of person" or "I could never do that." Those are fixed mindset signals. Once you notice them, you can start shifting the language.

4. How long does it take to develop a growth mindset?

There is no set number of days, since everyone has a different history and set of beliefs. Some people feel lighter within a few weeks of practicing new thoughts and habits. Deep change in how you see yourself can take months or years. That does not mean you are failing. It means you are rewiring long held beliefs, which naturally takes time and repetition.

5. Can a growth mindset help with failure?

Yes. Growth mindset changes how you interpret failure. Instead of seeing it as proof that you are not enough, you start to see it as information, feedback, and part of the process. That shift takes the sting out of mistakes and makes it easier to try again, which gives you more chances to succeed over time. Pairing growth mindset with self compassion makes this even stronger, since you learn to speak kindly to yourself during hard moments instead of tearing yourself down.

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If you are reading this, your growth era already started. A part of you believes you can change, or you would not be here.

You do not have to flip a switch and erase every fixed mindset thought overnight. Just start catching them, questioning them, and choosing a new version. One thought at a time, one choice at a time, you become the girl who trusts herself to learn, adapt, and keep going.

That is growth mindset in real life. And you are already on your way.