Launching and scaling a business requires more than action; it requires a steadfast focus on growth. If you’re trying to develop a growth mindset (also called a learning mindset), it often comes back to what you believe is what you can achieve. A fixed mindset is an idea that our lives and goals are static and largely at the whim of outside influences. If you have a growth mindset, you know we’re always evolving and that our business needs to do the same in order to achieve new heights. 

Here’s the truth about learning mindset: if you have a fixed mindset, you won’t be able to overcome your perceived ‘failures’ to make your dreams a reality. You’ll be stuck waiting for your dreams and business to unfold before you to mixed, uneven results. You’ll also stop in the face of failure and quit trying before you ever get started. But if you run into challenges with a growth mindset, your belief in yourself allows you to believe you can figure it out, make a plan, and keep pushing towards your goals.

If you’re trying to figure out how to cultivate or develop a growth mindset, start with the stories you tell yourself.

Tell Yourself a Different Story

We all tell ourselves stories about our lives, from “I’m not good enough to land this job” to “I’ll never make enough money to go on that dream trip abroad.” It’s not always easy to change the course of your narrative, but it’s possible. It’s also crucial to your success as an entrepreneur trying to get your business off the ground. Instead of telling yourself, “I don’t know how to do this,” start telling yourself, “I’m willing to explore new ideas and figure this out.” 

Make Habit-Building Your Goal

Cultivating a growth mindset is not something you will into existence. It takes persistence, patience, and continuous learning. While it’s important to set measurable goals for the results you want to create in your life, it’s also essential to invest in self-development and learning. Above all else, building the habits that will allow you to achieve your goals is integral to a growth mindset.

Embrace Your Failures

How you approach failure will inform whether or not you have a fixed mindset and growth mindset. Instead of running from failures or feeling ashamed of them, it’s essential to embrace them and use them as a learning opportunity. The next time you have a setback in your life, evaluate what happened, what you can learn, and how you can apply those learnings to your go-forward plan. It can also be helpful to journal your failures and reflect on them to fully absorb and commit your mind to where the opportunities are. 

Break Down Your Goal Into Goldilocks-Level Tasks

Successful people all have systems, strategies, and processes to reach their goals. They don’t say, “I want to triple the size of my business next year,” and attack their business in a panic to try and get it to grow. Instead, you need to break down your goal into a Goldilocks task that’s not too difficult to achieve but not too easy either.

The idea is you don’t want your goal to be so easy that you’re bored and uninspired to complete it. You need to be challenged to keep developing that growth mindset you’re looking for. But if your goal is too hard, you’ll end up quitting, often before you even start. 

Be Patient, Consistent, and Flexible 

Cultivating a growth mindset takes time and doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a process that comes with highs and lows. You may need to recalibrate and make adjustments as you go. After all, once you grow, so does your mindset and outlook on what you want to achieve. It’s also essential to take the time to reflect on your current vs. your past behavior. Look through your journals or meditate. Can you recognize and appreciate how you’re learning, changing, growing? When you honor your achievements in growth and acknowledge them, you gain confidence that you can keep pushing.

Hire A Virtual Assistant As Soon As You’re Able to and Embrace the Feeling of Growth

Sometimes the easiest way to spark the feeling of growth and develop the mindset is to outsource. Start by outsourcing small, tedious tasks that take up time, like researching or helping organize your social media channels. A virtual assistant can take busy work off your plate so you can focus on growing your business the way you want. Start thinking of yourself as a CEO and visionary for your company instead of the “doer” all the time.

Set Goals to Give Yourself Pay Increases or Raise Your Rates

It’s common to take on low-paying work now and again as you’re getting started in your business. But you don’t need to continue doing that once you’re up and running. You’ll end up attracting the wrong clients and resent the work you’re doing. Doing low-level work also keeps you from growing your business or even believing that you can. 

Beyond hiring, you can also signal growth by taking control over your pricing and empowering yourself to earn more. Slowly raise your rates or project package price points to help spur the growth mindset you need to succeed.

Cultivating a growth mindset takes time but is well worth the effort. Start by challenging your belief system and look for opportunities to infuse action into every area of your life and business. Once you understand where you’re falling into a fixed and growth mindset, you can steer the course of your success towards the growth you’re looking for.

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