Let it grow!

The pursuit of economic growth is widely considered to be important because it allows businesses to create jobs, profit, & prosper, and then in turn expanding tax revenues allow governments to invest in education, welfare, or transport, and living standards improve accordingly over time.

At the personal level growth is critical, for if you embrace a learning curve rather than believing that traits & qualities are ingrained, you can develop your skills, abilities, intelligence, and results.

As the adage goes, if you’re not growing, you are dying.

The growth mindset

Psychologist Carol Dweck believes in incremental improvements in intelligence, and is adamant that there is enormous power in believing you can improve.

Dweck argues that children should be praised & rewarded for effort above intelligence, for if they can be curious about learning and intrigued by mistakes, they will enjoy challenges, build confidence, & ultimately flourish.

While it’s tempting to shy away from challenges or the potential for failure, without tackling life’s problems you wouldn’t grow.

3 mottos for a growth mindset

To embrace a growth mindset, here are 3 mottos to add to your mental armoury:

(i) ‘There are no failures, only learning opportunities’ – while we all inevitably err or miss some of our targets, the cardinal lesson is to learn from experiences;

(ii) ‘Embrace growth over speed’ – it’s gratifying to tick off goals quickly, but it’s often more beneficial to continue to move forward unwaveringly – learn slow, forget slow; and

(iii) ‘Not yet’ – when grappling with a task or a goal, consider that you have simply not mastered it…yet!

The journey through business, investment, & life is never going to be a smooth one, so don’t expect it to be.

Instead, aim to cultivate grit & determination, and a resolution to improve.

While talent is important, never underestimate the extent of what can be achieved through the sheer force of effort.