{"id":6038,"date":"2019-12-23T19:05:15","date_gmt":"2019-12-23T23:05:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/?p=6038"},"modified":"2026-01-21T16:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T20:53:12","slug":"benefits-of-growth-mindset","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.shortform.com\/blog\/benefits-of-growth-mindset\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Surprising Benefits of a Growth Mindset"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

What are the benefits of a growth mindset<\/a>? How does a growth mindset help you become more successful at work and in your personal life?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We’ll cover the benefits of a growth mindset<\/a>. Learn how a growth mindset helps you work harder, become more self-aware, become more successful, bounce back after failure, and remedy depression.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n

Benefit #1 of a Growth Mindset: It Makes You Put in More Effort<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The first benefit of a growth mindset is that it helps you work toward your goals. Stressing persistence and effort isn\u2019t anything new. We have many sayings and stories intended to show the value of effort<\/a>: Rome wasn\u2019t built in a day; try, try again; \u201cThe Little Engine that Could.\u201d However, researchers discovered that people\u2019s beliefs about effort are more complicated. They come directly from mindset.
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People with fixed mindsets don\u2019t believe in persistence or effort<\/strong>. They think: If at first you don\u2019t succeed, then you don\u2019t have what it takes. They avoid effort because if you try and fail, you\u2019ll demonstrate your inadequacies, which you want to avoid. 
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When the researchers encourage people to accept a fixed mindset<\/a>, in which they believe abilities are predetermined, they\u2019re afraid of challenge and effort that might unmask them. But when people are taught a growth mindset that emphasizes development, they appreciate challenges and value effort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Benefit #2 of a Growth Mindset: It Increases Self-Awareness<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The second benefit of a growth mindset is that it makes you more aware. You might think that people with a growth mindset, who believe they can develop, would have an exaggerated view of their abilities (\u201cI can do anything\u201d). In fact, people with a growth mindset are more realistic about their strengths and weaknesses than those with a fixed mindset<\/strong>.
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When you believe you have the capacity to learn, you\u2019re more open to honest feedback<\/strong> and criticism than if you believe you have a finite amount of intelligence. People with a growth mindset understand that you need accurate information about how you\u2019re doing in order to improve. Fixed mindsets distort this information, either blowing it out of proportion or making excuses<\/a> and minimizing it.
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Researchers have found that exceptional people (much like those with a growth mindset) know their strengths and weaknesses, and can turn failures into eventual successes, which is a key element of creativity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Benefit #3 of a Growth Mindset: It Makes You More Successful<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The third benefit of a growth mindset is that it increases your success. When you start out in life, success is about learning. You\u2019re born with a drive to learn<\/strong>. Babies learn and stretch themselves every day. They don\u2019t worry about failing or quit. For instance, they don\u2019t decide walking is too hard and give up or fear falling. They just keep trying.
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As early as preschool age, however, children develop mindsets or beliefs about their ability<\/strong>. Fixed mindsets slow or shut down the intense drive to learn. Some children become fearful of not being seen as smart; they begin rejecting challenges. Others, with a growth mindset, embrace challenges and relish becoming smarter. Fixed mindset children become non-learners<\/strong>.
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For instance, the author and her research team offered four-year-olds a choice of redoing an easy puzzle or trying a new, harder one. Children who believed in fixed traits wanted to redo the easy puzzle (the safe choice), while children with growth mindsets<\/a> wondered why anyone would want to keep redoing the same thing when they could try something else. In other words, children with a fixed mindset wanted to make sure they succeeded, as they believed smart people always do, while those with a growth mindset wanted to get smarter.
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Over time, people with fixed mindsets and growth mindsets come to view the nature of success differently<\/strong>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n