From Passion to Profit: Heart Centered Strategies for FitPros

008 Unlocking Business Success: Mastering a Growth Mindset

• Nichola Page • Season 1 • Episode 8

Share episode

Welcome to another insightful episode of "From Passion to Profit." I'm Nichola Page, your host. In today's episode, I'll guide you through the transformative power of having a growth mindset for small business success. We'll explore what it means, why it's so important and how you can actively develop it.

I'll be highlighting the types of thoughts someone might have and the language they would use, depending upon whether they have a growth or fixed mindset.

I'll also outline practical strategies to help you foster and sustain a growth-oriented perspective.  One thing is for sure, whether you succeed or fail in business, your mindset has a huge part to play.  As Henry Ford famously said 'whether you think you can, or thing you can't, you're right'.

Key Takeaways:

  • Growth vs. Fixed Mindset: It's crucial to recognise the distinction between a growth mindset, which believes in development through effort, and a fixed mindset, which attributes abilities to inherent nature.
  • Embrace Challenges: View setbacks and challenges as opportunities for learning and growth, rather than inadequacy or failure.
  • Positive Self-Talk: Be intentional with positive self-talk. Reframe negative thoughts to incorporate a growth-oriented perspective, even if it means adding a "yet" to statements.
  • Feedback is Valuable: Receive constructive feedback as a valuable tool for improvement rather than criticism.
  • Effort Over Outcome: Focus on the efforts and experiences gained, viewing failures as feedback and experiences that contribute to your growth journey.

    If you found this episode valuable, I'd greatly appreciate your feedback. Please take a moment to leave a review and share your key takeaways. Don't forget to subscribe for more insightful episodes. 

Resource Links:


Welcome to From passion to profit, where we talk about all things related to creating a successful health and fitness business. One that works for you the owner as much as it does your clients. I'm your host, Nichola Page. And in this episode, we'll be discussing how you develop a growth mindset and why it's crucial for small business success. I'm going to look at what having a growth mindset means and what it looks like, why it's crucial for success, particularly in business. How do you identify if you have a growth mindset, or a fixed mindset? Then what can you do to develop a growth mindset further.

 

First of all, what does mindset even mean? The definition of it is the established set of attitudes held by someone. So you've got a particular set of attitudes towards whatever you face in life, that's your mindset. Your mindset may be similar to those around you, it could be completely different, but it's yours. Having a growth mindset is where you've got beliefs that you can develop your abilities by working harder, or listening to advice, or with sheer perseverance. Whereas a fixed mindset is where you believe that you're either good at something or bad at something. And it's just based on your inherent nature, it's just the way you are. 

 

There might be areas in your in your life or in business, where you may demonstrate a growth mindset and there'll be times when you will be demonstrating a fixed mindset.  The key thing is to identify where you are.  Maybe you have a growth mindset across the board. Or maybe right now you have more of a fixed mindset.  The key thing is to identify what is actually going on, and then how you can change that. 

 

Having a growth mindset is so important when you run a small business, any size of business, but particularly for you, running your small business requires you to have a growth mindset if you want it to succeed. It allows you to bounce back from failures or setbacks more effectively, and definitely a lot quicker. Instead of seeing the challenges that you're facing as inadequacy either on your part or other people's part, you're going to view them as opportunities for learning and for you to grow. 

 

If you have a growth mindset, you're more likely to embrace new ideas and approaches, you'll be open to taking more calculated risks, which is essential iIn order to grow your business.  You'll be more inclined to seek out different opportunities.  Maybe you're going to learn more through reading, doing courses, or seeking opportunities where you can network with others. But basically, that's all going to have a direct benefit to your business. 

 

Also, with a growth mindset, receiving constructive feedback will be seen as valuable to you. It will help you to improve, rather than you perceiving that as criticism, and being negative, which only serves to knock your confidence and hold you back. You'll be able to view challenges as opportunities for growth, which when you do that, fosters a more positive outlook. If you have a team that can be very contagious and can help to motivate your team, particularly through tough times. So that's why having a growth mindset is so important to you and your business. 

 

If we look at different challenges and things that you face when you're running a small business.  We are faced with challenges, obstacles, there's all sorts of things that go on pretty much on a daily basis.  Think about this for a minute. Where do you sit with this?  If you're faced with a challenge, it's a problem, I prefer to call them challenges. But if you're faced with this challenge, whatever that may look like? Are you the type of person that tries to avoid that completely? Put your head in the sand? Pretend it's not happening? Or do you embrace it? If you've got a fixed mindset, you're going to try to avoid it, ignore it, pretend that it's not actually happening at the moment. Whereas, if you've got a growth mindset, you're going to embrace it, face it head on and find the solution. If you've got different obstacles that you're trying to overcome in your business, and by the way this transfers into all areas of your life, but for this episode we're focusing primarily on your business. But let's say there's a particular obstacle that you're trying to overcome. Do you go, oh, this is too hard? Or do you just give up? Or do you go, no, we're going to do it. I'm going to persevere. We're going to get over this. 

 

What about if you've got to try something new? Maybe somebody suggested you do something in your business that's really going to help grow that business, to get better results? Are you kind of like, no, I don't fancy trying that? Are you a no to new things? Or are you like, yes, let's do this. I'm up for this. 

 

How do you respond to criticism? Do you feel threatened by it? Does it stop you in your tracks? Or do you celebrate that and go okay, what can I learn from that? Maybe there is some truth in this, maybe there are some things I need to learn from this? And how can I move forward? 

 

So those are just different examples for you to think about with how you behave.  What thoughts you have, what beliefs you have, to identif where you sit? Are you more in growth? Are you more in fixed? 

 

Here's a few statements, if you will, that are things that you would say to yourself, or maybe out loud, if you've got a fixed mindset.  You might say or think ‘I'm either good at something or I'm not’. ‘I can't learn that now’. ‘I'm far too old’. ‘It's too late’. ‘Well, there's no point in trying that if I'm just going to fail’. ‘I always struggle with…’ fill in the blanks. 

 

Do you feel intimidated by the success of others? Maybe it's not necessarily something you say? But that's a feeling that you get? Is it that you say to yourself, that you already know how to do that, I don't need to learn any more? Or maybe you say,  ‘I've always been told that I can't do that, therefore I can't’.  Or ‘I've never been good at …’ fill in the blanks.  All of those kinds of statements, thoughts, feelings, they're all signs of a fixed mindset. Now, don't get me wrong, it's not that you can kind of wipe all of those out, just make the decision today – right no more fixed mindset, I'm only going to have a growth mindset.  Things will crop up, where you might be drawn back into having a fixed mindset. The key with this is to start to recognise when that is happening for you, and then be able to reframe it. 

 

If you have more of a growth mindset, here's some things that you might think, say or feel. ‘It's never too late to learn’. ‘I think failure is a learning experience’. Or ‘criticism just helps me become better’. Or I can always improve on something’. If I'm determined, and I persevere, I'm going to accomplish this’. ‘I'm comfortable with getting out of my comfort zone’. 

 

Maybe you're the type of person that doesn't require other people's approval for you to feel that you're worthy. Can you see the bigger picture? And can you believe in it? And do you say things like, ‘I can't do that- yet’? Those are signs that you lean more towards a growth mindset. 

 

Is the fixed mindset, where there may be parts of your life where that is more prominent. Is it more prominent in your business? Because if so, then there's some work to be done, to start to develop your growth mindset when it comes to the success of your business. It needs you to do that, in order for your business to thrive, and to survive. 

 

So how do you go about developing a growth mindset is not something you just wake up and go right today and from now on, I only have a growth mindset. It's like a muscle. You've got to train it. You've got to recognise when it is not performing at its best. You've got to nurture it. You've got to work at it every day. You need to do be doing something to develop and work on having a growth mindset. Most of it is about raising your own awareness of your thoughts and your feelings and the things that you say.  Pay attention to the words that come out of your mouth. Pay attention to the words that come out of the mouths of other people around you, especially if you have a team. 

 

Let's just look at a few things that you could do to start to develop a growth mindset. Remember, this is going to be work in progress, and forever work in progress. Because as your business goes from one level to the next, other things will crop up where it might pull you back into a fixed mindset. So it is a constant work in progress. When you have a setback, or something doesn't go quite your way, look at that as feedback.  View failure as feedback. And I know that kind of sounds kind of cheesy, but it's true. Something has happened to me personally, recently, in business that made me initially, I went into a fixed mindset. I was like, Ah, this is a sign I shouldn't be doing this. And then it was - No, that's your fixed mindset. What would somebody say with a growth mindset? They'll look at that and go okay, so what lessons am I learning from this? How do I take what is happening and put it into a positive? There's a reason for it. What is it? So instead of dwelling on your failures, giving yourself a hard time over your failures, look at them.  Look and understand what it was that went wrong. What is it that this has given you an opportunity to do differently? And how can you improve in the future? 

 

Failure or setbacks are just stepping stones to success. Anybody who's got any level of success has failed numerous times, on their path to getting there. Think about it that way.  How can you look at failure or setbacks, as just feedback to help you move even further forward?  Stop seeking the approval of others, or comparing yourself to others.  Now, that I know maybe easier said than done.  I’ve fallen prey to that one myself numerous times. But again, as I've said earlier, this is about raising your awareness when you do it, so you don't stay in those modes for too long. So when I catch myself comparing myself to others, I'm okay, fixed mindset Nichola.  If I'm comparing myself to somebody else, who I perceive to have more success than I, then what can I learn from them? What is it that they are doing? Because it's almost like a mirror. To me, these are opportunities to show me what I could be doing differently? Or how I might approach and what can I learn from their successes and their failures? Rather than comparing and despairing? What are they there to teach me? How can I learn from them. 

 

Rather than saying, I can't do this, I'm never gonna be able to do this - add a yet to the end of it. It just changes the message to your subconscious mind that, okay, whilst I can't do it yet, that means I'm going to be able to.  If I learn something, if I get some help, if I do things slightly differently for take a moment to just chill out, take a step back, and then go again. So add the yet to - I can't do, I can't do this yet. 

 

Instead of worrying about failing, focus on your efforts, focus on one step at a time. Think about this as an experience for you to have. Rather than worrying that, oh, if I do this, it might not work, it might fail, I might look silly, I might get hurt, all of that stuff that can go on with that negative self talk that we can have. Rather than feeding into that, ask yourself, Okay, so what if I'm meant to have this experience? What if this experience is going to lead me to something where maybe it doesn't work out quite as I want. But the experience will teach me something along the way. Maybe it will open the doors to something else. So focus on the efforts that you're going to put in and the experience that you're going to have, rather than too much on the end result.  Yes, of course, we have to have some targets, goals for your business, where we want it to be. And that in itself is an end result. But don't let that be the thing that defines the experience you're going to have and the effort that you're going to put in along the way. 

 

Finally, surround yourself with really encouraging people. There may be people in your life right now, who are what I would call energy vampires.  Who when you are around them, their negativity sucks the life out of you.  When you think of the thought of actually meeting up with them or speaking to them on the phone or on Zoom, or whatever, just makes your heart sink a little bit because this is going to be hard work, I really don't want to spend time around that person.  Then don't.  That might be easier said than done. You might have people in your life or close family, for example, that you have to limit the time that you're with them, or at least prepare yourself for what you're going into.  Knowing that, okay, they have a fixed mindset. So when they are saying certain things, I'm going to be more mindful of how that is affecting my energy. And even if you don't say things out loud, have thoughts in your head, that keep you on the side of a growth mindset and positive thoughts.  Limit the amount of time you're spending with them wherever possible. If you can stop spending time with people who have a fixed mindset, who are negative, and who take that positive energy away from you, fill that void up with more positive encouraging people. 

 

One of the key things you can do when it comes to changing and developing more of a growth mindset is having more positive self talk. So it's all kind of what we've already been saying, but be intentional with the positive self talk. So when you hear in your head, that little voice in your head, that has a negative fixed tone, reframe it.  Even if it is that you add that word yet to the end. If you're saying, I can't do this, I'm not good at this, that will only end up causing you to stop doing whatever it is that you want to do. Try saying to yourself, Okay, well, I can't do this yet. So what is it I need to do to improve? At this moment, who do I need to speak to?  Get your brain looking for the solutions that start to move you forward.  Your brain doesn't know the difference between what is real and what isn't real. It only listens to the voice that's in your head. So if you keep telling yourself, I can't do this, I don't know how this is ever going to work. Your brain believes that. Be mindful of your words, mind your language. And instead of thinking that somebody else is so clever, they really seem to have got it all together, I'm never going to be able to do that. Let yourself off the hook.  They've learned some lessons to get them to that point, it's not that they're more clever than you.  They just might take more risks than you. Instead of saying to yourself, I'm never gonna be able to do it, they're too good. That's never going to work for me. Change that, reframe that to - Okay, so I'm going to figure out how this person, whoever you're looking at, did it.  I'm going to try and I'm going to take some steps forward. Because now when you say how can I get better? What is it I need to do?, your brain is going to start to look for the solutions. 

 

There's a saying what you focus on is what you get. So if you're going to focus on and keep saying all the negative stuff, you're going to end up with more of that. You might as well just reframe it, switch it out. There is a really famous quote, you may or may not have heard of it from Henry Ford. He said, along the lines of whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. So my question to you is, what are you going to think?  You're going to think you can or you're going to think you can't even if it's a yet on the end of it, because it's so true. If you think you can, the action, your thoughts affect your feelings, how you feel about doing something, which then affect the actions that you take. So if you consistently think you can't do something, the feelings that you get will be negative, there'll be a doubt, there'll be a frustration of fear, a whole range of different negative feelings will come up.  Therefore the actions that you take, if you take any, won't be in your best interests. Whereas if you think you can, and you think, Okay, I'm gonna give this a try. That feeling of hope of optimism is a different energy level. So therefore, the actions you take off the back of that will give you a better, more positive outcome. So whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.

 

My intention for this episode was to get you really thinking about how you can develop a growth mindset. Maybe you've already got a pretty good, strong growth mindset, but there's always room for improvement. I want you to really understand why it's important for the success of your business. You can apply all of this in other areas of your life too. Think about what you're going to do to develop a growth mindset on a daily basis. 

 

If you found this useful, would you do me a huge favour and take a few minutes just to leave a review? Tell me what kind of takeaways you've got from listening to this episode, what resonated with you?  Maybe even what actions you're going to start to take.  Don't forget to subscribe so you get notified of all the future episodes. I've been your host Nichola page, and I look forward to seeing you on the next episode. Bye for now.