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Embrace Your Growth Mindset to Achieve Your Greatest Goals

Have you battled self-doubt and anxiety based on old beliefs? What if you could turn those negative limiting thoughts into growth? Well, I did and you can too.

Have you started working towards a goal and found yourself battling self-doubt and anxiety?

We’ve all experienced this at some point. But what can you do to turn “I can’t” into “I can”? There are quite a few things, as it happens, and I was tested on this in a big way.

Here is what I found and how you can embrace your growth mindset to achieve your greatest goals, too.

Over the past two years, I’ve been working towards one of the most significant goals I’ve set for myself.

It tested my focus, belief in my ability, and my staying power when things got hard. I was a fairly poor student at school, like many others who don’t learn in the traditional way. This led me to believe that I wasn’t smart, so I stopped trying.

I found my place in more practical applications of learning, where reading and writing were much less of a measure of achievement. Earning a spot in a highly competitive Chef pre-apprenticeship confirmed it, I can shine when learning is through doing and listening.

But here I was, about to face a 3-hour exam with 78 situational judgment questions, where you must select the best and worst actions, which are definitely not black and white, with yes and no options. With just 2.5 minutes to answer each question, which is like looking into a sea of grey, I thought I would fall into the 30% of exam takers who fail the first time.

I have been working towards this for over 2 years. The journey has been a commitment to professionalism as an ADHD coach. But also a test of the power of “I can”, a growth mindset I kept coming back to at each hurdle.

Tapping into a Growth Mindset

Up until I started my formal coach training in 2018, I had believed what my school reports and teachers had recorded.

Because I struggled with exams and the school’s requirements, I wasn’t smart enough to pursue further studies. This thinking is what Professor Carol Dweck terms a Fixed Mindset—the belief that a quality or characteristic is set and unchangeable.

Turning the corner on this fixed mindset wasn’t like flicking a switch or simply deciding to adopt a Growth Mindset—the belief that we can grow incrementally by applying effort to a quality or characteristic, such as intelligence.

Here is what shifted me from fixed to growth mindset, and how you can too:

Focusing on the journey, not the destination – I reminded myself that my aim is the process of learning and growing not where it might lead to that is most valuable. Applying the effort here, not on the exam, made a huge difference.
Make the journey of learning fun and engaging – I had the privilege of working with a mentor whose processing style matched mine, which made the learning process much more enjoyable and exciting.
Uncover evidence of growth – Whenever things felt challenging, I made a conscious effort to celebrate the areas of my life where I had grown and changed through my persistent efforts. This practice of celebrating progress kept me encouraged and uplifted.
Remove the expectation of success – This was the biggest shift that helped the most during the 3-hour exam. Once I stopped putting pressure on myself to pass the exam the first time, everything felt less anxiety-driven, and I had a clearer mind under that pressure. It’s the saying Aim for Practice, not a Pass.

The hours and months of putting in the effort for growth and embodying coaching core competencies paid off, and to my very big surprise and delight, I passed my PCC (Professional Certified Coach) exam on the first try!

So next time you face something you’ve never done before, or where the evidence might say there’s a chance you can’t succeed, remember the power of “I can” and find the space where you can grow with the experience, whether you succeed or not. I truly believe you can.

Let's grow together! Answer these questions:

What belief have you been holding that could shift from a fixed to a growth mindset?

What is the smallest step you can take today that is about growth and not a destination?

If you’d like a kind ear feel free to email me at carolyn@outsidetheboxsoltuions.com.au

Resources:

Book – Mindset: Changing the way you think to fulfil your potential by Carol Dweck

Abstract – https://psycnet.apa.org/record/2006-08575-000

YouTube – https://youtu.be/hiiEeMN7vbQ?si=BljBlJ_vvQh4OpZX

With Infinite Peace and Gratitude from,