Who does NOT like winning? At work, in sports, in life, we feel great when we’re winning. We set ourselves a goal, we work hard, focus on the results, the goal is achieved, and we receive rewards like praise, a promotion, a bonus, a pay-raise etc. But fairly soon, we set ourselves a new goal, working hard to achieve that again and after that follows the next goal. Often, our sense of accomplishment, self-worth and value are tied to these external rewards, to what other people present us when we’re winning. We may actually link our happiness to achieving these goals and receiving these rewards and find it hard to be happy, as we never stop striving for more. On the other hand, when we do not get the results we are after, we may judge ourselves, or others, or the situation, we feel disappointed or depressed.
So how is a having a growth mindset different to a goal or results-oriented mindset? When we focus on the process rather than the outcome, we are concentrating on continually developing ourselves in being the best we can be. Our ‘goals’ are then actually designed to improve our knowledge, our understanding and our competencies that help us create sustainable success. The focus is on learning rather than the outcome itself. Actually, any result is neither good or bad but considered a lesson to evaluate and learn from. A growth mindset is not about letting go of our goals or results but using them as points of feedback and information that will help us measure progress. If we compare it to sports; there is always only one winner, but the ‘losing’ teams look at how and what they can improve to perform better next time. We have control over the process, not always over the outcome. When we focus on improving the process, the outcome will come by itself.
So which goals will help you perform better?
