A Growth Mindset: Embracing the Power of Yet

Just as she starts to work up a sweat, Morgan finishes up her last set of pushups and takes off her runners. Another five-minute workout complete; the fifth one this week. 

Though Morgan’s ultimate goal is to reach 150 minutes of activity per week, her current commitment to herself is to hit 25. She has a ways to go, but she’s not worried and knows she’s on the right track. In other words, Morgan has a growth mindset.

A growth mindset is essentially a mindset of incremental gains. It’s not about shooting straight for the stars but figuring out how to leave the comfort of earth first, and then aiming for the moon, knowing that you need to get there first if you’re ever going to reach the stars

Morgan’s health journey is empowered by her mindset. She knows she can hit 150 minutes of activity; she just can’t do it yet and she’ll never get there if she doesn’t start with something that, while still a challenge, is more attainable. 

The key word in this last sentence is “yet.” The first time Morgan doubled her commitment to 50 minutes, she only logged 45. Did she fail? No, she just didn’t get there yet.

Through embracing this frame of mind, we automatically create a path forward for ourselves. Changing your lifestyle and adopting new habits isn’t easy, but it’s impossible if you think and believe you can’t do it.

You need to believe you can be active, and recognize that you are already active in some ways, to adopt a more active lifestyle. With a growth mindset, you’ll look at what you can do better, but also what you are already doing well. Recognizing your success thus far is one of the best ways to create more success for yourself. 

When you are trying to build a new healthy habit, ask yourself, “Does my mindset match my goals?”

If it doesn’t, this is where you should start. Many people get stuck in a fixed mindset in which they believe they have a fixed set of abilities that they can’t change. In other words, they believe there’s not much point in trying because they know they will fail.

Maybe you feel like you’ve been dealt a bad hand in life. And that might be true, but can’t you pull another card from the deck? There’s no game that you only play one hand in.

When approaching a challenge, don’t think about whether you’ll “succeed” or look stupid; think about what you can learn or how much you can do.

Something doesn’t need to be near impossible to be a challenge. You know that you can run 3k, but can you do a 3.5 today? How about adding a set of stairs into your running route?

Either is probably achievable. And, even if you have to walk part of the way, you’ve still done it. 

When something is too hard for you, all it means is you need to start smaller. No one summits Mount Everest before climbing many smaller mountains first. This is what Morgan did; 150 minutes of activity per week was her Everest. It took her six months of incremental gains to get there. Each of these gains was an accomplishment in itself. 

Morgan now regularly exceeds 150 minutes. When you stick with an activity you build new, stronger connections in the brain, making you more capable. Even knowing this fact has been shown to increase students’ grades

So, when you see someone trying and being positive about the journey they are on, give them some encouragement. At the same time, accept and take to heart the encouragement others give to you. 

There’s nothing you can’t do… yet.