Growth Mindset is for Leaders and Great Mindset is for Leaders in Art
Article by Svetoslava Stoyanova, NMCT
Growth mindset is a well-known concept of not only the ambitious novice – it is also a conscious corporate target of many renowned employers. Carol Dweck, a lead researcher on the topic and author of the book with the same name, states that as humans, we operate in both a fixed and a growth mindset. Apparently, one should intentionally strive for amending their brain to the growth state of mind.
GROW INTENTIONALLY
Growth mindset is an attitude that allows us ‘to understand that [our] abilities can be developed’ (Dweck, 2014). It is often intertwined with the idea that if someone demonstrates a growth mindset, they are determined to succeed. To succeed in arts however, we need something more. We need Great mindset of inspiration.
GROW PURPOSEFULLY
I now invite you to build on the idea of possessing a growth mindset with something I’ll call a great mindset. It is an attitude that every time I witness as a coach in my sessions, no matter if the coachee’s work path is in arts or in another field, it fuels my belief that people actually can change for the better. Great mindset in my view is the ability of a person to admit and acknowledge their individual pace in achieving a goal. It is a matter of velocity and a matter of momentum too. Like when we create.
GREAT MINDSET BASICS
Great mindset is about Growing Reasonably, Eagerly, in an Admirable manner that makes you Thrive feeling GREAT.
How will you know that you experience the great mindset yourself?
While fulfilling a desire or a goal, climbing the career ladder or euphorically launching an own artistic project, here are five signs of that unmatched mindset as an acronym for GREAT:
1) Growing
The change is going through your veins. You are partially out of your comfort zone, but you are savoring the effort of, for instance, waking up an hour earlier to learn the alphabet of a new language or code.
2) Reasonably
Growing reasonably is growing in a satisfactory way at a price that is not too expensive for you to pay. It means you know your Why, and the gravity of the change you want to create or the milestone you are about to accomplish.
3) Eagerly
“Go the extra mile, it’s never crowded there” they often say. You pursue your better self in a joyous and fulfilling way, you have the energy to go that extra mile, and you are exhilarated to do so.
4) Admirably
You follow your way in a fashion worthy of admiration. Moreover, a tribe of followers, inspired by you, is about to form and it seems that your goal or cause is enlightening others too.
5) Thrivingly
This is the thing and this is the way. You feel it, you see it, you know it. What differentiates it from bare enthusiasm though, is that it doesn’t appear as a sprint, but is much more like a marathon and you have the capacity to endure it. You don’t need a special energy recourse to fuel your stamina, by taking action itself you gain the energy to keep going towards the direction you have chosen.
The great mindset is the sweet spot of doing and being altogether. The sweet spot of Chiksenmihai’s flow. This is a territory where there is no need to define yourself. You are a work in progress, you are the designer of your day and your way forward, and it feels… yes, it feels exactly GREAT!
