Humans evolved to focus more on the negative input our brains receive, in order to stay safe. But we can work to reverse this negative bias, focus on the positive, and become more creative with a growth mindset.
Episode Transcript
Did you know that our brains take in eleven million bits of information every single second? The unfortunate part about that is because we were evolved to protect ourselves, unfortunately, our brain is naturally biased more towards the negative information than the positive information. In fact, it’s nine to one. This habit that our brains have become accustomed to actually reduces creativity, reduces optimism, and reduces your openness to new ideas. So, you actually have to consciously take control of minding your own mindset in order to reverse that negative bias. The research actually shows that it takes five to one positive to negative interactions or thoughts to reverse this negative bias. So, it’s crucially important that we consider the difference between a fixed mindset and a growth mindset.
Some of the characteristics of a fixed mindset are people that avoid challenges or shy away from things they don’t know. They struggle with criticism or feedback and they tend to be more judgmental—as opposed to the growth mindset people who tend to be very curious. They view challenges as opportunities, they acknowledge and embrace learning, they learn to give and receive constructive criticism, and they persist in the face of setbacks. You can actually learn to be more creative by assuming a growth mindset and learning more and more about the identities and attitudes that you need to adopt to actually be more that way.
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