Growth mindset

Mindset refers to a personal belief about the extent to which any given trait is fixed or immutable as opposed to flexible or malleable. A fixed mindset—the view that human attributes are static, fixed, or immutable—can be distinguished from a growth mindset, the belief that human capacities can be developed over time through effort, adaptive strategies, and persistence in the face of challenge. A growth mindset can support efforts to achieve greater well-being. Coaches and therapists can use four interrelated processes of the LNCS framework—learning, noticing, cultivating, and strengthening—for teaching about and supporting the development of growth mindset in clients. For the adult with ADHD, cultivation of a growth mindset, particularly focused on self-regulation abilities, can promote openness to trying on new, more helpful thinking patterns and experimenting with new, more adaptive behaviors. Ultimately, the cultivation of a growth mindset opens the door to hope for new possibilities and supports the development of self-efficacy to explore them.