39 GROWTH ΜINDSET It is a common misconception that “Positive Psychology” is just about being “happy”; on the contrary, Positive Psychology encourages individuals to embrace every personal attribute and life facet, whilst highlighting the positive characteristics and/or events. One of the cordial notions of Positive Psychology is the power and impact the person has in its own self and life in order to shape their life-experience and path. Positive Psychology encourages people to take command, enhance the parts of life and their selves they find favorable and functioning, hence amplifying their feelings of self-efficacy, self-worth, meaning in life and having a sense of “purpose”. When levels of self-worth and efficacy are high, people also experience elevated feelings of optimism and hopefulness, which makes them more willing to take calculated risks, try new experiences and eventually discover more things they enjoy doing or they are good at; both supporting their journey for self-discovery, happiness and success. Focusing on strengths rather than problems offers control to the person and a new mindset; hence people have the psychological resilience and capacity to start anew when they decide to, rather than feeling being permanently broken or failing. A growth mindset is “the understanding that abilities and understanding can be developed”. Those with a growth mind-set believe that they can master new skills, improve their intelligence, and become more charismatic through putting in time and effort. A fixed mindset is one that assumes abilities and understanding are relatively fixed. Those with a fixed mind-set may not believe that intelligence can be enhanced, or that you either “have it or you don’t” when it comes to abilities and talents. The main difference between the two mind-sets is the belief in the permanence of intelligence and ability; one views it as very permanent, with little to no room for change in either direction, while the other views it as more changeable, with opportunities for improvement (or, for that matter, regression). In summary, individuals who believe their talents and positive attributes can be developed (through hard work, meticulous planning, and constructive feedback from others) have a “growth mindset”. Those individuals tend to achieve more than those with a close mindset do. This is because they embrace the role of a “life-long learner” and worry less about being perfect and right all the time, alas they put more energy into learning and are more subjective to feedback, embracing multiple points of view and knowledge resources .
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