The Best Way to Identify if an Athlete has a Growth or Fixed Mindset
In sports it’s extremely important that athletes have a growth mindset and not a fixed mindset. Carol S. Dweck, Ph.D. in her preeminent book on mindset describes the growth mindset as believing that self-improvement is a product of hard work. In addition, when you have a growth mindset you also believe that the innate talents you are born with are just the starting point for your development.
On the other hand, Dweck describes the fixed mindset as believing that human characteristics are forever carved in stone at birth. Furthermore, with a fixed mindset you believe you’re either good at something or you’re not. If you are good at something it will be easy, if you’re not it will be hard.
These two contrasting mindsets create a stark difference to how an athlete approaches competition. If an athlete has a fixed mindset, losing a competition is a demotivating setback. An athlete with this mindset views a loss as an indication of lacking talent or having bad luck. In contrast, an athlete with a growth mindset views losses as motivation to work harder. An athlete with the growth mindset believes that if they can find a way to work harder and smarter that next time they will win.
This analysis of how an athlete responds to a loss is the best way to know if they have a growth or fixed mindset. What’s more, if you confirm they have a fixed mindset you must encourage them to change how they think. This starts by helping them focus on the process instead of the outcome, praising hard work instead of talent, and rewarding consistency instead of winning.
Finally, I suggest you read Carol Dweck’s mindset book with the athlete. Then incorporate her suggestions into the athlete’s training process.