Build a growth mindset in six practical ways
Welcome to the Dojo!
It's interesting how we can understand a concept intellectually, believe it's important, and genuinely want to apply it... yet still fall into the same patterns.
Our behavior doesn't change. Our outcomes don't change. Then we're surprised or frustrated.
Entrepreneurship has a way of exposing those patterns. A prospect rejects us. A launch disappoints. A difficult task reveals a weakness.
I've realized that the real work doesn't begin when we understand the concept of a growth mindset. It begins when we recognize those moments, catch ourselves falling into old patterns, and choose to respond differently.
This week, I'd like to share six practical steps that can help you do exactly that.
On the Mat
- Let’s Train: Six ways to build a growth mindset
- Ask Feras: “How do I know whether I am operating from a fixed mindset?”
- Sharpen the Blade: [Livestream this Tuesday] Build a Growth Mindset That Helps You Win More Clients and Grow Faster
Let's Train
A growth mindset does not appear because you agree with the concept. It develops through repeated practice, especially during the moments when your confidence drops and your old thinking takes over.
Dr. Carol Dweck makes an important point in Mindset: we all move between fixed and growth mindsets. The goal is to recognize what triggers the fixed mindset and learn how to prevent it from controlling your decisions.
Dr. Carol Dweck makes an important point in Mindset: we all move between fixed and growth mindsets. The goal is to recognize what triggers the fixed mindset and learn how to prevent it from controlling your decisions.
1. Identify your triggers
Pay attention to the business situations that change your behavior.
Do you become defensive when someone questions your pricing? Do you procrastinate before following up with prospects? Do you avoid asking for help because you think you should already know the answer?
The activity you avoid may not be the real issue. A founder who keeps delaying sales calls may be reacting to fear of rejection, judgment, or looking inexperienced.
You can address the pattern once you can name it.
2. Recognize your fixed-mindset voice
Dweck suggests becoming familiar with the internal voice that appears when you feel threatened.
It may say:
“You're not ready.”
“You'll look foolish.”
“Someone else is already better at this.”
These thoughts can sound like facts because they are familiar. Most are predictions shaped by fear.
3. Replace judgment with curiosity
Judgment closes the discussion while curiosity gives you something to work on.
When a proposal is rejected, asking “What does this say about me?” usually produces shame or defensiveness. Asking “What part of my process needs improvement?” can lead you to review your positioning, discovery call, pricing, timing, or proposal.
The second question creates options.
4. Focus on effective learning
Growth mindset is often reduced to working harder. Dweck's definition is broader.
Progress may require more effort, but it may also require a new strategy, better feedback, stronger support, or a different resource.
If 50 prospecting emails receive no replies, sending 50 more copies of the same message is persistence without learning. Review the audience, subject line, offer, and call to action before repeating the activity.
5. Create a specific action plan
Good intentions are vague.
“I need to network more” rarely changes behavior.
A better plan would be:
“On Tuesday at 8:30 AM, I will contact three former colleagues and invite one person to coffee.”
Decide what you will do, when you will do it, and what the first step will be. Specific plans reduce the amount of negotiation you have with yourself.
6. Build an environment that supports growth
Your environment influences what feels normal.
Spend time with people who ask honest questions, test ideas, admit mistakes, and keep learning. That support may come from mentors, peers, coaches, books, or founder groups.
You still have to do the work. A strong environment makes it easier to continue doing it when the work becomes uncomfortable.
Ask Feras Recap
The Challenge
“How do I know whether I am operating from a fixed mindset?”
What I Told Them
Pay attention to what happens when you feel challenged. Defensiveness, avoidance, blame, and the need to prove yourself are common signals. Pause and ask what you are protecting, then identify one action that would help you learn instead.
Sharpen the Blade
In this week's livestream, I'll go deeper into these six steps and show how founders can apply them to sales, confidence, rejection, and other common business challenges.
Join me for “Build a Growth Mindset That Helps You Win More Clients and Grow Faster” and bring a mindset challenge you'd like us to work through together.
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