I recently heard a truth that a goldfish will only grow to the size it’s reasonably able to due to its surroundings. Simply put, it is constrained by the size of its tank.

Transfer this to humans and the same can be true. Our growth is limited by the people surrounding us. MIND BLOWN.

Let’s delve a little deeper:

Many people will be familiar with Carol Dweck’s work on the Fixed vs Growth Mindset. Some have more of a fixed mindset meaning they simply believe they do not possess the talent enabling them to achieve something. Others have more of a growth mindset believing that one learns skills in order to achieve something. You can probably hazard a guess as to which ones become entrepreneurs and which don’t.

The beauty of it is though, being in a ‘fixed’ mindset is exactly the opposite of what it suggests: you don’t have to stay there forever. Let’s go back to the fish – if we take the pet goldfish and release him into the wild (probably not advisable without some prior guidance) he will grow up to seven times bigger because he is allowed to. Allow yourself to change environments and you can move into the Growth mindset.

How do you change states?

The first thing you’ll need to do is understand what camp you are in and why you are in there. If you are in a Fixed mindset, ask yourself why? Do you use excuses to get out of things? Do you lack patience to get somewhere you want to get to? Do you feel you lack the resources and skills necessary to get there? Do you give in to naysayers? If so, recognise this and take the first step outside of this zone.

We’ve all seen those joke adverts from the Government telling us to ‘upskill’ to a completely random new career due to the situation we find ourselves in, and if you are a Ballerina, please don’t all of a sudden become an accountant, but find some skill gaps that you want plugged, and learn how to plug them. There are SO many free online courses to help take you from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset.

What happens in a Growth Zone?

As an entrepreneur, being in the Fixed zone is a ‘no-go’ area. If you are feeling comfortable, you’re not in the right place. The whole point of growing is that it is uncomfortable. Remember the school blazer you grew out of before term finished? It felt uncomfortable right? That’s because you were growing. The trick is to surround yourself with the same type of people. Yes people will help Yes people as their mindset believes anything can be achieved.

A growth mindset is the epitome of change. If something doesn’t work, change it. If something feels wrong, change it. If your environment is bad, change it. Take yourself out of the bowl and put yourself in a river, but just make sure you don’t go with the flow.