“The greatest glory in living lies not in never falling, but in rising every time we fall.” – Nelson Mandela

To achieve something that is difficult but worth going after requires constant (even if incremental) improvement and small victories along the way to stay motivated. One faces immeasurable amounts of disappointment when their efforts do not reap any satisfaction.

So the question arises, how does one go about growing every day?

Is it yet another scheme to promote the hustle culture or is there an actual method to truly grow?

Are we looking to grow for the sake of our egos or do we truly find purpose in this path that leads us to become better each day?

The answer to all these questions isn’t as complicated as it seems.

When we are not leading a life with direction, we are using up resources we have not earned through our work and eventually, we identify ourselves as imposters because in this case, we truly are imposters. While this isn’t an ideal frame of mind to be in, it is in no way the end of the world. We are constantly presented with opportunities to grow and most of us, at least the privileged ones, have various outlets that provide us with opportunities to pivot if the initial path isn’t aligning with our current goals. We need to grab hold of these opportunities and make the most of them. When we do pick a path, we need to make sure that the success we are aiming to build is sustainable. Sustainable success is one that doesn’t rely on outside forces more than it does on internal resources and capabilities. To build such capabilities and leverage for oneself or your organisation, there needs to be a practice of constant improvement, not only in the processes but in the way everyone involved learns.

There are way too many books that talk about mindset shift and growth mindset but very few are able to speak on mindsets that are practically coachable for long-term success and sustained growth. One of my book reviews includes Dr Carol Dweck’s Mindset which I am a fan of but even her book doesn’t really highlight how small and large groups of people can work toward developing a mindset that would resonate flawlessly with each one and help them be more productive with purpose.

So again, I ask, how do we develop methods to help build a mindset for long-term success? It is through developing an adaptive mindset and adopting optimised philosophies of life.

With more than 5,000 years of recorded data, we have been blessed with literature on the history and the sciences that help the current and future generations with advanced starting points in their lives. We all have to learn how to speak, read and write but we do not have to invent languages.

An adaptive mindset is a way of living that helps those following it to make decisions based on the facts and emotions of those involved. Yes, I am including feelings as a part of this equation as we all carry them and that is a fact. Please bear in mind that when I say feeling, I am not supporting the nonsense of those who believe that the laws of science can alter based on their emotions but what I mean is that when it comes to the humanities, psychology, and philosophy, we need to provide everyone with an opportunity to put forward their evaluation of situations before making a final decision.

An adaptive mindset is one where a growth mindset and a fixed mindset come together to develop a more sustainable way of operating in the world. We live in a civilised world where we have rules to protect the people, these are important and can’t be compromised for the sake of someone’s emotions but there is always room to grow, to improve, and this is where the adaptive mindset comes into play. We, as people and nations, for the majority part of the past 2000 years followed some basic rules of life and living but as the world evolves, we have to evolve as well.

For example, if the constitution of your nation made sense 300 years ago, it served its purpose but if that same constitution doesn’t resonate with the majority of the population because of the advancement in technology and conversations, it needs to be changed. Similarly, if the way families operated 300 years ago has been successful to date but has been degrading in its quality of togetherness, there need to be fundamental changes made within the family structure to make sure that the purpose of unconditional support and love is maintained through the present into the future and further changes are made as and when required.

I understand, my examples are a bit extreme but I am trying to relate to the majority as minorities are already making a lot of noise to make changes which help only their cause or agenda.

Some things to do and some things to avoid while trying to adopt an adaptive mindset:

Do’s:

1. Be open to the ideas and thoughts of those you would have previously judged as bigoted or biased
2. Learn how to listen without judgement and respond to develop a constructive thought or idea
3. Read history books knowing they were written by people with their own ideals and biases. They are not villains but they aren’t heroes either.
4. Take note of how you felt when someone put you down, did you ask yourself if you were falling short or were you judging the person in question?
5. Suppressing the ego is important but acknowledging it is the beginning. Recognise where your ego is triggered and work on it. This isn’t a race or a marathon, it’s a process.
6. Adopt the growth mindset and empathise with your fixed mindset. You don’t need to choose between the two nor do you need to limit yourself to the two. Both play an important role in the evaluation of various situations
7. Look for areas of growth in the most difficult of situations, and literally challenge yourself to do something outside your comfort zone through awareness of your current limitations

Don’ts:

1. Listen to pass your judgement on someone, that’s a waste of your time and energy
2. Hold on to grudges and moments of failures, they will only lead you or your team to stray off your objectives
3. Believe everything you are told or everything you read, and develop a way to learn that helps you evaluate each situation for yourself
4. Hurt others in order to boost your ego, nothing is as temporary as this
5. Build your castle on top of others’ misery, no one can sustain true happiness with this approach
6. Believe that the growth of others is your failure, they are building their own paths and that has nothing to do with you
7. Blame others for your shortcomings, recognise where you fall short and improve
8. Be attached to people or even ideas but be attached to growth and change (even if it’s not desirable at times)
9. Be arrogant because chances run out
10. Tell yourself or others that you only get one chance in life, it’s utter nonsense.

These are basic fundamentals that I recommend you follow. There are deeper, particular actions that need to become a daily practice to have an adaptive mindset but the beauty of an adaptive mindset is that there will never be constants here outside of change. We are meant to grow throughout our lifetimes and to grow, we need to constantly change and adapt.

I will be further exploring and adding to the adaptive mindset approach and I would love to hear your thoughts on them too!