If you are feeling a bit afraid to do the things you want to do, THIS can help

Hi everyone!

So… here we go, if you are feeling a bit afraid to do the things you want to do, this may help.

What I am going to talk about today is the Growth or Fixed Mindset.

I am naturally someone who can be inclined to Perfectionism. What this means is that I don’t half-ass things, when I do something I get everything checked, and try to tick all the boxes. And if not, in my normal nature, if left unchecked – I won’t show the work. OR I would re-edit continuously until I feel satisfied (hardly ever).

When I studied at MAX Fitness College for my Fitness and Business Diploma, I got 100% in my marks – I did everything I could to get there. BUT, whilst this was great as it gave me 100% confidence to help clients get into the best shape of their lives – it also can lead to a potential BIG PROBLEM for my own actions.

The problem is if I start to believe, that if I do not get everything checked off and right and 100% perfect, IT ISN’T GOOD ENOUGH. And it can stop me (or you in your certain scenario) from taking risks.

When I was studying at the Royal Academy of Music, I had unrealistically high expectations for myself. Partially because I had the wide NZ Community supporting me in my dreams – and expecting me to succeed (which I am extremely grateful for). Whilst studying, I was surrounded by EXTREMELY TALENTED performers (some now great friends). And in my sometimes FIXED mindset, whilst I worked my ass off, something was stopping me from really LETTING GO, and just BE. Because, I so desperately wanted my performances to be PERFECT and RIGHT and started to compare my performances with theirs, I got in the way of my best natural work.

The Fixed Mindset looks at our actions/work/words as something that will be judged by others. That we need to be perfect and get things 100% Right – and that if we don’t we have failed.

This puts immense pressure on ourselves and can really hold ourselves back from our natural expression and authentic selves. Or to stop doing ANYTHING altogether.

On the OTHER HAND – the GROWTH MINDSET suggests that where we are now is temporary. That we can grow and change and improve. That mistakes are okay, that we can try things out and learn as we go. In the Growth Mindset, we view the world as a playground, somewhere to have fun, experiment, and enjoy. To test things out, and tweak things as we go.

This is a much more powerful mindset. Because it allows us to follow our hearts and do the things we want to do – unafraid of other people’s judgments, and even more importantly, the judgment of ourselves. To allow ourselves to be imperfect. And really be ALIVE. 🙂

A quick exercise I’d invite you to do, to take out a pen and paper, think of the last 12 months and write down the following:

1. List 5 things you didn’t do but which you wanted to do because of fear (fixed mindset)

2. List 5 things you were scared to do but did it anyway. (growth mindset)

How do you feel about the things you didn’t do?

And about the scary things that you were afraid of but took the courage to do anyway?

For this article, I walked the talk 😉

(wrote it in 10 minutes and just uploaded, GROWTH MINDSET, this article doesn’t need to be perfect)

Until next time,

Jarrod x