Ask yourself every day, what could you possibly do if nothing stood in your way? What would give you a sense of satisfaction? What would you enjoy? What would be fun to try? What would make you feel good about yourself? Push your thinking.
Here’s an example. A quiet, introverted college student (Alex) spent all of his free time in his room in the dorm. He didn’t interact much with others because he was comfortable being by himself. One of his teachers talked to the class about having a growth mindset vs a fixed mindset. She emphasized that a fixed mindset could be taught to stretch and think differently and gave the class lots of examples of both. Alex was intrigued. She challenged every student to do something that semester to really stretch beyond their comfort zone. The assignment was to turn in a paper describing what they did, why they chose to do it, and the result. Alex wanted an A.
Alex sat in his dorm room thinking about what he could possibly do that would really push him outside his comfort zone. There was a lot going on all around him. He decided to run for President of his dorm! One of the things he had to do was give a speech explaining what he would do as President and why he wanted the role. He won the election! It changed his dorm and school experiences considerably.
Alex proved to himself that he could shift from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. This is just one example of what can happen when someone decides to take something on, stretch their thinking about themself, and pursue their goal with focus and intention… wonders can happen!
What’s waiting for you to stretch yourself?
