Having a growth mindset is essential for success.
By Rachel Reed — Written on Sep 09, 2020
It's widely believed that people with a growth mindset tend to be happier and more successful. The good news is, it's a trait that you can develop in yourself over time — and these growth mindset quotes will help you exude more positivity in your everyday life.
What is a growth mindset?
Carol Dweck introduced her theory of mindsets in her 2006 book, Mindset: The New Psychology of Success. As Dweck explores in her book, there are two distinct mindsets that contribute to a person's beliefs in their abilities: fixed and growth.
In a fixed mindset, people believe that their qualities are fixed traits — unable to be changed. As Dweck explains, “they spend their time documenting their intelligence or talent instead of developing them. They also believe that talent alone creates success.”
On the other side of the spectrum, people with a growth mindset believe they can develop themselves through dedication and hard work. "Brains and talent are just the starting point," says Dweck.
Inspirational Growth Mindset Quotes
To inspire you to develop your own growth mindset, we've compiled a list of 45 quotes to empower and encourage you!
1. “Always do what you are afraid of doing.” — Ralph Waldo Emerson
2. “In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity!” — Albert Einstein
3. "No problem can withstand the assault of sustained thinking." — Voltaire
4. "Nothing is impossible. The word itself says ‘I’m possible!’" — Audrey Hepburn
5. “Believe you can and you’re halfway there.” — Theodore Roosevelt
6. “Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed no hope at all.”— Dale Carnegie
7. “Picture your brain forming new connections as you meet the challenge and learn. Keep on going.” —Carol S. Dweck
8. "Success is not an accident, success is a choice." — Stephen Curry
9. "It's kind of fun to do the impossible." — Walt Disney
10. “Part of evolving and becoming who we're meant to be — whoever that is — requires respecting our inner selves so that we may be centered. Only then can we truly be happy.” ― Martika Shanel
11. "There’s no such thing as failure, only results." — Tony Robbins
12. "The people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do." — Steve Jobs
13. "If you quit once it becomes a habit. Don’t Quit." — Michael Jordan
14. "I am not afraid of storms for I am learning to sail my ship." — Louisa May Alcott
15. "If you don’t give anything, don’t expect anything. Success is not coming to you, you must come to it" — Marva Collins
16. “You are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” —Christopher Robin
17. "All things are difficult before they are easy.” — Thomas Fuller
18. “What does not destroy me, makes me stronger.” — Friedrich Nietzsche
19. "We are each gifted in a unique and important way. It is our privilege and our adventure to discover our own special light.” — Mary Dunbar
20. “It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” — E.E. Cummings
21. "You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” — Wayne Gretzky
22. "I don’t believe in failure. It is not failure if you enjoyed the process.” — Oprah Winfrey
23. "Life isn’t about finding yourself. Life is about creating yourself." — George Bernard Shaw
24. "When the facts change, I change my mind. What do you do, sir?" — John Maynard Keynes
25. "It is never too late to be what you might have been." — George Elliot
26. “I won’t just have a job; I’ll have a calling. I’ll challenge myself every day. When I get knocked down, I’ll get back up. I may not be the smartest person in the room, but I’ll strive to be the grittiest.” — Angela Duckworth
27. “No matter what, people grow. If you choose not to grow, you’re staying in a small box with a small mindset. People who win go outside of that box. It’s very simple when you look at it.” — Kevin Hart
28. “At 54, I am still in progress, and I hope that I always will be.” — Michelle Obama
29. “You will either step forward into growth, or you will step backward into safety.” — Abraham Maslow
30. “Education is the passport to the future, for tomorrow belongs to those who prepare for it today.” — Malcolm X
31. “It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it.” — Aristotle
32. “A well-educated mind will always have more questions than answers.” — Helen Keller
33. “Action is the foundational key to all success.” — Pablo Picasso
34. “Ever tried. Ever failed. No matter. Try Again. Fail again. Fail better.” — Samuel Beckett
35. “Every great dream begins with a dreamer. Always remember, you have within you the strength, the patience, and the passion to reach for the stars to change the world.” — Harriet Tubman
36. “Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right.” — Henry Ford
37. “It is in fact a part of the function of education to help us escape, not from our own time — for we are bound by that — but from the intellectual and emotional limitations of our time.” — T.S. Eliot
38. “Children have never been very good at listening to their elders, but they have never failed to imitate them.” — James Baldwin
39. “You don’t have to see the whole staircase, just take the first step.” — Martin Luther King, Jr.
40. “We read books to find out who we are. What other people, real or imaginary, do and think and feel...is an essential guide to our understanding of what we ourselves are and may become.” ― Ursula K. Le Guin
41. “Change will not come if we wait for some other person or some other time. We are the ones we’ve been waiting for. We are the change that we seek.”― Barack Obama
42. "Life is not about waiting for the storms to pass…it’s about learning how to dance in the rain.” —William Shakespeare
43. “I am always doing what I cannot do yet. In order to learn how to do it.” — Vincent Van Gogh
44. “It’s sort of a mental attitude about critical thinking and curiosity. It’s about mindset of looking at the world in a playful and curious and creative way.” — Adam Savage
45. “What allowed me to take that first step, to choose growth and risk rejection? In the fixed mindset, I had needed my blame and bitterness. It made me feel more righteous, powerful, and whole than thinking I was at fault. The growth mindset allowed me to give up the blame and move on. The growth mindset gave me a mother.” ― Carol S. Dweck
Why is developing a growth mindset necessary?
It's essential to be aware of which mindset you are in. Your attitude has a profound impact on how you learn, develop skills, interact in relationships, and professional success.
Someone may think, "I am dumb, why try?" leading to performance issues in a fixed mindset. Because they believe there is no way to change and that talent and ability are innate, they don't challenge themselves and learn slower.
When a fixed mindset person fails (which they will, because everyone does), it reinforces their belief that they “just can’t” do something.
Alternatively, because a growth mindset person believes they can practice and work hard to improve, they learn more, faster, and more thoroughly in a growth mindset. They experience more successes, which then reinforces their belief that putting in the work pays off.
Fostering a growth mindset is important, not only to develop skills but also to create healthy self-esteem.
Developing a growth mindset allows you to learn from failures, seek out challenges, push your limits, and communicate sincerely.
Here are a couple examples of fixed mindset vs. growth mindset:
- Fixed mindset: I can’t learn algebra, vs. Growth mindset: I can practice and get better at algebra
- Fixed mindset: Why bother learning a new skill? There will be someone better than me vs. Growth mindset: I can expand my skills, which is a good thing!
- Fixed mindset: I’m going to fail, what’s the point? Vs. Growth mindset: Failure is a learning experience
As we can see, having a growth mindset opens doors that otherwise would go unopened.
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Rachel Reed is a writer and editorial intern interested in news, culture, self, and relationships.