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Ever hear that little voice in your head say, You’re just not good at this or This is just the way I am? That’s your fixed mindset talking. The truth is that we all have one—it’s a natural part of being human. But what if you could teach your brain to think differently? What if you believed that with effort, practice, and the right strategies, you could actually get better at the things that challenge you?

That’s the heart of a growth mindset—the belief that your abilities can evolve. In fact, it’s rooted in science, especially in how our brains are wired to learn and adapt. (Thank you, neuroplasticity!)

Therefore, if you want to try some growth mindset activities for adults for personal and professional development, we've listed the most effective ones below! These 9 science-backed, adult-friendly mindset interventions go beyond motivational quotes—they give you real tools to rewire how you think, feel, and grow.

Key Takeaways

• At its core, a growth mindset is the belief that your abilities, intelligence, and skills can be developed through effort, practice, and feedback—not something you're just born with or without.

• A growth mindset is supported by neuroplasticity. Your brain is capable of forming new connections throughout life, meaning continuous improvement isn’t just possible, it’s biologically supported.

• Just like working out, mindset training is something you can strengthen over time with simple, consistent growth mindset interventions—like reframing self-talk, visualizing success, embracing mistakes, or using personal growth tools like Mendi neurofeedback.

Growth Mindset vs. Fixed Mindset

People with a growth mindset see their abilities and talents as learnable, and they continuously put in the effort to improve themselves both personally and professionally. People with a fixed mindset, on the other hand, believe that their abilities and intelligence are inherent and thus cannot be changed and improved throughout life.

Psychologist Carol Dweck, who developed the concept of growth mindset, stated that "[b]elieving that your qualities are carved in stone—the fixed mindset—creates an urgency to prove yourself over and over. If you have only a certain amount of intelligence, a certain personality, and a certain moral character—well, then you'd better prove that you have a healthy dose of them. It simply wouldn't do to look or feel deficient in these most basic characteristics."

Then, she argues that "growth mindset is based on the belief that your basic qualities are things you can cultivate through your efforts, your strategies, and help from others. Although people may differ in every which way—in their initial talents and aptitudes, interests, or temperaments—everyone can change and grow through application and experience."

Therefore, people with a fixed mindset often avoid challenges. Challenging situations may require them to use skills they believe they don't have. They also find it difficult to accept failures. People with a growth mindset, however, see every challenge and failure as an opportunity to learn something new.

What Makes A Growth Mindset Possible?

The brain’s ability to adapt and reorganize in response to experiences and learning is known as neuroplasticity. And it is the secret to cultivating and supporting a growth mindset. This concept accentuates the idea that our brains can form new neural connections through practice, repetition, effort, and continuous learning.

Therefore, when an individual has a growth mindset and is open to taking on new challenges and staying strong when they must overcome obstacles, they stimulate neuroplasticity. This way, the brain adapts based on the challenges it faces and creates new neural pathways to accommodate the growth process.

Benefits of Cultivating a Growth Mindset

If you switch from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset, you can literally change your life. Having a growth mindset means acknowledging that you can adapt and learn, which opens the door to endless learning opportunities!

It can help you feel calm before a difficult presentation at work.

It can help you feel motivated to continuously learn, evolve, and adapt to achieve all your personal goals.

It can help you feel proud of your effort even when you fail. You'll see this experience as an opportunity to learn—always learn.

It can help you stop being afraid of taking risks. This will undoubtedly enrich your life with a myriad of wonderful experiences and opportunities!

It can strengthen your resilience in the face of day-to-day challenges.

It can boost your self-esteem, which, in turn, can encourage open communication and improve your relationship with others.

Ultimately, a growth mindset can help you with so much more! It all depends on what you're striving to change!

Top 9 Growth Mindset Activities for Adults

Before we discuss some effective growth mindset activities for adults, we would like to highlight Carol Dweck's input on change: "Even when you change, the old beliefs aren't just removed like a worn-out hip or knee and replaced with better ones. Instead, the new beliefs take place alongside the old ones, and as they become stronger, they give you a different way to think, feel, and act."

We've chosen this quote because it is extremely important to understand that you cannot change your mindset overnight. And even when you manage to switch it, your fixed-mindset persona can still show up from time to time, trying to keep you safe.

As such, below you'll find the best 9 growth mindset activities for adults (although they work just as well for high school students!).

1. Cultivate Self-Awareness

Self-awareness is an integral part of a growth mindset.

According to Carol Dweck, the first step towards switching from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset is—believe it or not—to accept your fixed mindset and become aware of what triggers it. Only then will you be able to address those triggers and change the narrative!

For example, when you have the opportunity to take on a new challenge and find yourself not willing to pursue it, try to understand what keeps you from doing this. It may be your fear of failure or your self-belief that you do not have what it takes.

Many people have a fixed-mindset episode, as Carol Dweck puts it, when they are under pressure, procrastinate, or fail to live up to the expectations they set for themselves. Ultimately, the triggers are unique to everyone. But once you become aware of your own limiting thoughts and beliefs, you are already one step closer to changing them and developing a stronger sense of self.

Activity idea: try journaling. Set aside 5-10 minutes a day to reflect on a challenge or emotional moment you faced. Ask yourself:

• What was I feeling at that moment?

• What thoughts came up?

• Were any of those thoughts based on a belief that my abilities are fixed?

2. Challenge Your Fixed Mindset

Once you've recognized your triggers, it's time to challenge them. Start small. Find a thing you've always wanted to try but never actually did. Let's say you usually get the same drink when you go out for a coffee. You always go for a Cappuccino, for instance, because—what if you order something new and you don't like it? So, next time you go out, order something you've never tried before.

You can also change your routine a bit. Cook something you've never tried before. Take a different route to work. Read before bed instead of watching TV. Adopt a new habit.

These seem like insignificant changes, right? But it's a start. If you take on a more significant challenge from the very beginning, it may overwhelm you.

Once you get comfortable with smaller challenges, level up your game. Sign up for a workshop, go on a solo trip, or do anything else you've always been afraid to do because your fixed mindset keeps telling you you don't have what it takes to do this.

Activity idea: pick one small thing this week that takes you out of your comfort zone, then do it. Keep a running list of these “mini-challenges” and note how you felt before and after each one. This activity aims to grow your confidence, so you feel comfortable enough to introduce bigger challenges.

3. Leverage Neuroplasticity with Mendi Neurofeedback

What if we told you you can use a science-backed tool that can help you become more self-aware and change your response to challenges, risks, and failures? We're talking about neurofeedback, a brain training technique. And that's where Mendi comes in.

Mendi is a cutting-edge neurofeedback device designed to help you train the part of your brain responsible for focus, resilience, and problem-solving skills—your prefrontal cortex. When you use Mendi, you're not just thinking about changing your mindset—you're physically training your brain to do it.

How it works:

• Mendi uses safe sensors to monitor your brain activity while you play a game on the app.

• As your prefrontal cortex becomes more focused and engaged, the game responds in real time—reinforcing healthy, growth-supporting behaviors through positive feedback.

• Over time, these mental workouts support your self-improvement journey. They promote self-regulation, cognitive flexibility, and stress resilience—the core foundations of a growth mindset.

Whether you're trying to bounce back from failure, focus better at work, or break through self-limiting beliefs, Mendi helps you build the mental muscles to do it.

Activity idea: use Mendi for 3 to 15 minutes, 3x a week for the next two months. Then ask yourself:

• Do I feel more focused when facing a challenge?

• Am I quicker to reframe negative thoughts?

• Am I more resilient after setbacks?

4. Train Yourself to Accept Being Wrong and Making Mistakes

People with a fixed mindset are often sensitive about being wrong or making mistakes. Here's what Carol Dweck says about this: "Babies don't worry about making mistakes or humiliating themselves. They walk, they fall, they get up. They just barge forward. [...] As soon as children become able to evaluate themselves, some of them become afraid of challenges. They become afraid of not being smart."

Therefore, learn the importance of accepting that making mistakes is part of the learning process. This can be done by practicing self-compassion and by focusing on stretching yourself rather than always succeeding.

Activity idea: do a Mistake Reframe exercise. Each time you catch yourself ruminating over a mistake, pause and write it down; then:

• Describe the mistake without judgment

• Identify one thing you learned from it

• Rewrite the story from a growth perspective

Example: you can turn I messed up the presentation; I looked unprepared into a growth mindset statement like I learned that I need more practice with pacing. I'll prepare a checklist next time.

5. Take Advantage of the Word Yet

One of the simplest but most powerful mindset shifts is adding a single word: yet. When you catch yourself saying, I’m not good at this, tack on the word: yet. It turns a limiting belief into a possibility.

This small change encourages you to view ability as something that can be developed over time. It signals to your brain that you can improve.

Activity idea: make a “Yet List.” Write down three things you’ve caught yourself saying you’re not good at—maybe it’s learning a language, public speaking, or staying organized. Then rewrite each sentence, adding yet at the end.

Here's an example:

• Original → My time management skills are not good enough.

• Growth version → My time management skills are not good enough yet.

Keep this list somewhere visible and revisit it every week. Over time, update the items as you improve and add new ones to keep growing.

6. Track the Progress, Not Just the Outcome

We often fixate on negative/positive outcomes—whether we got the job, nailed the presentation, or reached our learning goal. But a growth mindset is about valuing the process and your hard work and tracking progress. And research backs it up: when we reward ourselves for effort, we build intrinsic motivation and resilience!

Activity idea: start a Progress Journal. At the end of each day or week, jot down answers to these:

• What effort did I put in this week?

• What did I try that was new or uncomfortable? How did I respond to these challenges?

• What did I learn—even if it didn’t work out?

• What did I achieve, and what useful tools did I employ to achieve this?

This is a good strategy that can help you shift your focus from perfection to persistence, and you'll start to notice progress in unexpected areas! It will also encourage a more positive attitude in daily life.

Additionally, you can also set weekly or monthly progress-focused goals. For example, instead of saying I want to write a bestselling book, set a goal of writing 500 words every day this month. You can use the SMART technique for goal-setting and tracking progress.

7. Seek Constructive Feedback

Feedback can be uncomfortable, especially if you're operating from a fixed mindset that interprets critique as a judgment on your abilities. But from a growth perspective, feedback is one of the most powerful tools for learning and improvement.

Instead of fearing what others might say, try actively seeking feedback—and not just when things go wrong. Ask others what they think you did well and what could be better. Approach it with curiosity, not defensiveness.

Activity idea: after completing a project, presentation, or even a conversation that mattered to you, ask for specific feedback from someone you trust; use these prompts:

• What’s one thing you think I did well?

• What’s one thing you think I could improve?

Record the answers in a notebook or digital doc. Then, reflect on how you can apply this next time. This builds resilience and reinforces that improvement is a continual process—not a one-time event.

This activity can also be done in person as a team-building exercise. Different group members will take turns offering constructive feedback to other members. It's an excellent opportunity to give and receive feedback in a supportive environment.

8. Watch Your Inner Talk

A lot of fixed mindset beliefs come from internal self-talk: running mental commentary that can either support you or sabotage you. The good news? You can retrain it.

Start noticing how you talk to yourself, especially in challenging or unfamiliar situations. Are you encouraging? Or critical and absolute? Learning to catch and reframe these moments is a key part of growth.

Activity idea: keep a "Mindset Voice Tracker" for one week; every time you catch yourself thinking something like I can’t do this, I’m bad at this, or I always mess this up, write it down. Then, challenge it:

• Is this thought 100% true?

• What’s a more balanced or growth-oriented version of this thought?

Here's an example:

• Fixed thought → I always procrastinate and never finish anything.

• Growth reframe → Is this factually true? I’ve struggled with procrastination before, but I’ve also finished projects when I broke them down. I can do that again.

9. Get Inspired by Others

Adopting a growth mindset doesn’t mean you have to do everything on your own. In fact, one of the most effective ways to shift your mindset is to look at people who embody it.

The world is full of stories about individuals who succeeded not because they were the most naturally talented but because they kept learning, evolving, and refusing to give up. And it's not just famous people we're talking about. If you look around, you'll find plenty of individuals in your own life who can inspire you, whether it's a friend, family member, or work colleague!

Activity idea: create a growth mindset poster. Pick 3-4 people whose stories inspire you and write down a summary of the setbacks they faced and how they kept growing. Note what qualities or choices helped them persevere.

Keep this board somewhere visible—on your desk, your phone, or in a journal. Revisit it when you need motivation, when your inner critic becomes too loud, or when you just need some inspiration to boost your creative thinking!

Frequently Asked Questions

How to teach a growth mindset to adults?

You can teach a growth mindset to adults by first helping them become aware of fixed mindset beliefs, often through self-reflection or journaling. Then, introduce the science behind neuroplasticity to show that change is possible. Use real-world examples and practical exercises like reframing negative thoughts, tracking progress, and celebrating effort. Encourage ongoing learning, resilience, and embracing challenges as opportunities to grow.

What is the icebreaker growth mindset activity?

A great icebreaker is the Fixed vs. Growth visualization technique. You should imagine something that could happen in the future and visualize your reactions to that even through a fixed mindset vs a growth mindset. Then, analyze both reactions and their outcomes.

What is a growth mindset activity?

A growth mindset activity is any exercise that helps you practice the belief that you can improve with effort. Examples include journaling about setbacks, setting “yet” goals (“I’m not good at this… yet”), tracking progress over outcomes, and using visualization to mentally rehearse challenges from a growth perspective.

What are the 5 ways you can develop a growth mindset?

You can develop a growth mindset by challenging your beliefs, seeing mistakes as opportunities to learn, seeking feedback from others, celebrating your effort rather than your wins, and training your brain with neurofeedback to foster new neural connections.

What is the difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset?

The difference between a growth mindset and a fixed mindset lies in the belief that abilities and intelligence can be developed through effort and learning in a growth mindset, whereas a fixed mindset perceives these traits as inherent and unchangeable.